Ce-UnPac’d Special : Tesco Part Two - Tax Dodges, Prison Sweat, and Baby Poison Plots

You thought the first dive into Tesco’s cesspit was bad? Oh no, my friends, that was just the appetiser, the lukewarm soup before the main course of corporate rot hits your table. We’re talking about a supermarket giant that’s not content with squeezing every penny from your wallet – no, they’ve got to trample on laws, lives, and basic human decency along the way. From dodging taxes like a pickpocket in a crowded market to turning a blind eye to prison slaves packing your festive crap, Tesco’s scandals keep piling up like expired stock in a back alley dumpster. This is truth about how the biggest retailer in Britain keeps its empire afloat on a sea of lies and exploitation. Grab a stiff drink, because we’re going deeper into the muck.

Tax Dodges and Libel Bullying

The Cayman Islands Shuffle Picture this: 2008, the world economy’s circling the drain, and Tesco’s playing financial wizard with offshore tricks that’d make a banker blush. They set up a labyrinth of companies, trusts, and partnerships in the Cayman Islands – that sunny tax haven where the sun never sets on dodgy deals – to allegedly swerve up to £1 billion in UK corporation tax on property sales. We’re not talking small change; this is the kind of avoidance that starves public services while fat cats laugh all the way to the beach. When The Guardian called them out, Tesco didn’t apologise or come clean – oh no, they slapped the paper with a libel suit, dragging journalists through the courts like naughty schoolkids. The case settled out of court, with the paper coughing up costs and an apology, but the stink lingered. It’s classic Tesco: hide the truth, bully the messengers, and keep the profits rolling. How’s that for corporate accountability? It’s enough to make you spit out your tea in rage.

Secret Store Grabs

Swallowing the Little Guys in the Shadows Same year, 2008, and Tesco’s at it again, this time playing cloak-and-dagger with independent shops. They secretly snapped up Brian Ford’s discount stores – a chain of proper local grocers – without a whisper to the public or regulators. For five bloody years, they operated under the radar, even submitting planning applications under the old name through a shell company with zero employees and no turnover. It was all controlled by Tesco, of course, but they kept it quiet to avoid scrutiny. When the truth leaked, it was a slap in the face to competition laws and every small trader fighting to survive. Tesco claimed it was at the Ford family’s request to spare staff worry, but come on – that’s like a fox saying it ate the chickens for their own good. This stealthy empire-building crushed independents and rigged the market, all while Tesco pretended to play fair. It’s predatory, it’s sneaky, and it’s why high streets are dying ghost towns.

Suing the Truth-Tellers in Thailand

Libel as a Weapon Over in Thailand, where Tesco Lotus reigns like a discount overlord, 2008 saw them unleash legal hell on critics daring to speak out. Journalists and a former MP called out the chain for aggressive expansion that was gutting local mum-and-pop shops, driving them to the wall with cut-throat prices. Tesco’s response? Massive libel suits demanding millions in damages and even jail time – up to two years for one poor sod. One columnist faced £1.9 million in claims before settling; another got off after an apology. Thai courts eventually dismissed the main case, but the damage was done: a chilling effect on free speech, intimidating anyone who might expose the retail behemoth’s bullying tactics. It’s not business; it’s thuggery wrapped in corporate legalese. Tesco loves preaching ethics in the UK, but abroad? They’ll sue the voice out of you if it threatens their bottom line. Outrageous, isn’t it? Makes you wonder what else they’re silencing.

Union-Busting in Hungary

Firing the Fighters Fast forward to 2010, and Tesco Hungary’s showing its anti-worker stripes. Two officials from the KDFSZ trade union got the boot for encouraging a colleague to report a serious workplace accident – you know, basic safety stuff that could save lives. The union screamed foul, saying it violated Hungary’s Labour Code since Tesco didn’t even bother consulting them first. This wasn’t a one-off; it’s part of a pattern where European multinationals like Tesco import their union-crushing ways, treating workers like disposable stock. No apologies, no reinstatement – just cold dismissal and a shrug. In a world where employees already get shafted, Tesco’s adding insult by punishing those who stand up for rights. It’s gritty, it’s grim, and it’s why unions matter: without them, corporations like this run riot.

Prison Slaves in the Supply Chain

Christmas Cards from Hell By 2019, Tesco’s festive cheer turned sour with a scandal straight out of a nightmare. A six-year-old kid in the UK finds a cry for help scribbled inside a pack of charity Christmas cards: foreign prisoners in a Shanghai factory, forced to toil 15-hour shifts under duress, packing the damn things. We’re talking coerced labour, no pay, no choice – modern slavery in festive wrapping. Tesco suspended the supplier and claimed ignorance, launching an “investigation,” but how the hell do you not know who’s making your products? This wasn’t some rogue outlier; it exposed the dark underbelly of cheap Chinese manufacturing feeding Western greed. The public was furious, cards pulled from shelves, but the prisoners? Still suffering. It’s a gut-punch reminder that your bargain-bin holiday tat might come stained with human misery. Tesco, you bastards – own it and fix it, don’t just PR your way out.

Baby Food Blackmail

Poison in the Puree From 2018 to 2020, one of the UK’s biggest blackmail sagas unfolded, with Tesco at the rotten core. Sheep farmer Nigel Wright – a twisted piece of work – spiked baby food jars with salmonella, knives, and metal shards, threatening to contaminate shelves unless Tesco ponied up £1.4 million in bitcoin. Two mums found shards in Heinz puree they’d fed their infants, triggering a massive recall of 42,000 products. Wright got nailed with 14 years behind bars for blackmail and contamination, claiming he was coerced (bollocks, the jury said), but Tesco? They cooperated with cops, sure, but the terror inflicted on parents – the sheer horror of poisoned baby food – is unforgivable oversight. How secure are those supply chains, really? This wasn’t just a lone nutter; it exposed vulnerabilities in a system obsessed with volume over vigilance. Outraged? You should be – it’s playing with kids’ lives for profit margins.

Racist Signs and Xenophobic Bollocks

Targeting Romanians In 2020, amid a pandemic when we all needed a bit of humanity, a Tesco store in London slaps up a shoplifting warning sign – in Romanian. Just Romanian. As if every thief hails from there, stereotyping an entire community like it’s the 1950s. The Romanian diaspora erupted, calling it blatant racism and xenophobia; even their Ministry of Foreign Affairs piled in with outrage. A petition flew around, demanding answers, and Tesco yanked the sign with a mealy-mouthed apology. But the harm? Done. It’s discriminatory drivel that fuels hate, profiling immigrants as criminals while ignoring the real crooks in boardrooms. In multicultural Britain, this shit has no place – it’s lazy, it’s ugly, and it’s why trust in big corps like Tesco is in the toilet.

The Deeper Rot

There you have it: more layers of Tesco’s onion, each one making your eyes water with the stench of hypocrisy. Tax dodges funding empires built on secret deals, silenced critics, busted unions, prison labour, poisoned babies, and racist rubbish. It’s not accidents; it’s a pattern of prioritising profit over people, laws be damned. Next time you’re scanning your Clubcard, ask yourself: is this the world you want? Because every quid spent props up this machine. Wake up, demand better – or we’ll all choke on the fallout.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

Ce-UnPac’d Special : Tesco Part Two – Tax Dodges, Prison Sweat, and Baby Poison Plots