Tesco's response

I give Tesco full marks for a response the day after my email to them. It appears they are acting in response to a request from their homosexual staff. Click on the title for their url, Out at Tesco.

'Dear Mr Weeks

Thank you for your email addressed to Philip Clarke, our Chief Executive, to which I have been asked to respond.

I was sorry to learn you are disappointed with our decision to support World Pride in 2012. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to explain our reasons for this decision.

Tesco is proud to support hundreds of charities and local communities. In the last year alone we have contributed over £64 million in total to charities and good causes in the UK and across the world.

Many of these are local causes that matter to our staff and our customers in the communities in which they live. Others are big national issues, where together with our staff and customers we can make a significant contribution. We raised £7.2 million for children with cancer last year, for example helping Clic Sargent fund specialist care at home for children, and we are set this year to raise over £5 million for the Alzheimer's Society.

We took a decision to support Pride London with a donation of £30,000 because our Out at Tesco network asked us to help. Everyone is welcome at Tesco, and agreeing to the request to sponsor the event was a tangible way of demonstrating that we respect and support our colleagues.

Thank you for contacting our Chief Executive. I trust that I have clarified our position on this matter.

Kind regards

Dawn Clark
Customer Service Executive'