Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make an assessment of the impact of the Tesco-Booker merger on rural small businesses, such as post offices and village stores.

Investigations into mergers and anti-competitive practices are the responsibility of the Competition and Markets Authority, the UK’s independent competition regulator.

I note that the CMA conducted an in-depth investigation into Tesco’s acquisition of Booker in 2017 and concluded that it did not raise competition concerns.