You realize, of course, that this means war?

I’m sure many readers are as fed up as I am with big companies trying to use their corporate clout to move “little people” out of the way so that they can accomplish their corporate objectives. It seems that today individuals don’t count compared to the almighty dollar, or pound, or euro, or whatever the currency unit of the place and time happens to be.

I’m delighted to report that one English lady has had enough, and is doing something about it.

A grandmother from Merseyside has applied for planning permission to demolish the home of Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy.

Dot Reid is retaliating against plans to bulldoze her home and 71 others in Kirkby, to make way for Everton’s new stadium and a Tesco supermarket.

The 58-year-old said Sir Terry, who lives in a mansion in Hertfordshire, deserved a taste of his own medicine.

She plans to turn the site of the Tesco boss’s house into a community garden.

I don’t know that she has much chance of success, but I absolutely applaud her spirit. Just why the hell should a football club (Everton) and a supermarket chain (Tesco) be allowed to use local government to expropriate private property like that? It’s not as if the land would be used for genuine community needs like roads, or a sewage treatment plant, or something like that.

If the damn corporations want land for commercial purposes, let them obtain it on a “willing seller, willing buyer” basis the way any of us have to work. Sure, they’ll pay higher prices, but that’s the free market. To use local government to basically extort the land on their behalf is unconscionable. As Mrs Reid has pointed out:

“My property is being threatened to be knocked down. It is not a slum clearance, it is only 15 years old.

“Here comes Tesco’s again trying to take over the world.

“We want our voices to be heard. How would he like it if his house was flattened?”

I couldn’t agree more, ma’am! The very best of British luck to you – and I hope that US citizens will follow your lead and use similar tactics the next time some faceless gigamart tries to take over their property!

Peter