After he reports back on his progress, we will ask you to decide his next step.

By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

It was a classic New Labour campaign.

Shortly after the 1997 election, ministers tapped into growing public anger over "rip-off Britain" and pledged to do something about it.

The then Trade Secretary Stephen Byers led the charge, insisting people believed they were regularly being fleeced by, amongst others, greedy retailers, bankers and car salesmen.

Cynics claim it is because rip-off Britain was a myth

Things, it was suggested, were much better in other countries where consumers were given a better deal on everything from cars to carrots.

The government was happy to be seen in the lead on the issue and suggest pressure would be put on business to give consumers a better deal.

But as the evidence was collected it emerged rip-off Britain was pretty much a myth.

There were examples of goods that were more expensive in this country than elsewhere in Europe.

The problem of inflated car prices compared to elsewhere in the EU was amongst the most obvious.

Over-charging?

But when it came to other goods, there was little evidence of widespread profiteering.

Indeed, the Competition Commission carried out a probe into the big supermarkets and found claims of regular rip-offs simply did not hold water.

The banks, as ever, were a different kettle of fish and there have been persistent reports that they are over-charging their customers.

Similarly car prices in Britain are still often higher than on the continent although there have been large reductions recently.

Government and consumer pressure has had some impact on both these areas - although nowhere near the extent consumers were demanding.

Bandwagon

But it was generally found that, with the notable exceptions, Britain was probably no worse off than anywhere else in Europe or the US.

The Tories latched onto the reports to accuse the government of bandwagon jumping.

And, gradually the campaign was allowed to wither away.

Ministers insist that is because government and consumer pressure has led to dramatic reductions.

The cynics claim it is because rip-off Britain was a myth.

How do you think our investigation should proceed?

As a UK citizen living in the US I would caution comparing prices. In the case of cars, yes they are cheaper, however, to bring the specification up to UK levels raises the price to about that of the UK. Also the build quality of UK cars is far higher than US cars.
Paul, US\UK

Why not create some kind of 'basket' containing the kinds of goods that are thought to be subject to rip-off and compare the UK with other European countries?
John Chapman, Belgium

Perhaps we should be looking at VAT and excise duty applied to goods in the UK. How do these compare to those in other countries?
Hadrian, England

I believe much of the difference can be explained by different tax levels. Perhaps the tax burden of different Countries ought to be investigated, then we might understand why our fuel is so expensive.
Graham Cotter, England

Perhaps you could investigate prices for public transport.
Paul Carey, UK and USA

As a regular shopper in Strasbourg, everything is more expensive here than in France! I would like you to tackle Mr Blair head on please on this one.
Pat Murtagh, UK

Rather than quiz retailers a survey should be undertaken to quiz foreign nationals leaving the UK (after a holiday or business trip) and seek their perception of the costs they faced whilst here.
Anthony, UK

If we make a earnings versus cost index then I am sure we will find that the costs in UK do not stand up to the earnings of the people in UK. We have to understand that average earnings are much more in US than in UK while as per your find the prices are the same. So, even though one could say that UK is not rip off the other fact makes this a bit hard to digest.
LK, UK

Ask the consumers what we think, because no-one actually listens to us. The only people that listen to us are the automated customer services helplines and even then all they want to hear is the touch-tone beeps. Will any company actually listen to us and hear what we have to say?
Dave, Manchester, UK

We shouldn't just be quizzing the retailers or the government. We should be asking manufacturers why some products made in the UK are cheaper to buy in other countries, not only in the EU, but often on the other side of the planet!
Brian Mudie, UK

Take a close look at what has happened to the car market. The government and Consumer Association campaign did indeed lead to lower list prices, although the discounts that were available meant very few actually paid 'list' for a new car. However, the campaign helped to destroy all confidence in the used car markets as well and, as a result, used car values reduced by often far greater amounts. So, the reality is that it can now cost as much, if not more, to actually buy a new car if you have a part exchange (as most people do).
Mark Norman, UK

I think it is time for objective evidence to be publically available to counter the objective evidence that some things do cost more in the UK.
Dave, UK

Having recently returned from a holiday in Spain, I feel VERY strongly that Britain is indeed being ripped off with regard to the prices of food in supermarkets, eating out which is MUCH cheaper, alcohol and cigarettes. And public transport, which is also vastly more efficient in Europe than here.
Fiona, Scotland

Rip-off Britain is not a myth, the man on the street knows it, but, technology at least is coming to our aid. I now get my CDs shipped from the States, my car came from Holland, I've saved the turn-over of a small country, all by using the internet.
Ruaridh Shuttleworth, Scotland

I think you should question the retailers, find examples of "rip-off" situations and then ask them to provide a breakdown of their UK price to justify it.
Jon, England

There is little point questioning the public over this issue as I would imagine very few have a real feel for prices outside of this country other than the irregularly highlighted price differentials in the newspapers, far better to take the shopping basket approach and compare.
Mark Wilkinson, England

The basis of all high prices is the high cost of land and buildings/homes. As this rises the costs to consumers grows. Investigate how much shop rents and factory building costs have risen...
CM, UK

Look at: Cigarettes, alcohol, audio CD's, video DVD's, clothes, cars, electronic goods, fast foods etc etc - all more expensive in every foreign country I have ever been in.
Duncan, England