The financial figures he had been painstakingly assembling swooned as a group, sucked into the dead blank screen like glittering water pulled down a drain.

NEWYORKER: Outage

Mr Alexander, who was a spokesman for the now defunct Britain in Europe lobby group before becoming an MP in 2005, rejects the "blank cheque" argument, saying the pre-manifesto document is merely part of the normal process the party goes through every time it produces a manifesto.

BBC: Manifesto Man: Danny Alexander

"It's the development of what is almost a new politics, deciding whether the company reflects the values of the community, " said Paul Blank, a spokesman for "Watch Out Wal-Mart, " a watchdog group that is critical of the company.

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