There’s a GAP in the market
The effects of lockdown are about to hit the High Street as a steady stream of closures becomes a tidal wave. After a three month loss of trade, many independent retailers gave up and now even chain stores are following. Peacocks, now owned by Edinburgh Woollen Mill, are on the verge of their second spell in administration. Gap, the American owned fashion chain, are deciding whether to close its whole UK operation.
The worst possible thing for a businessman or potential investor is uncertainty – and the UK government has certainly conjured up plenty of that! The latest absurdity is the Welsh lockdown where supermarkets are having to rope off areas of their stores that contain “non-essential” items. Just what is essential? Well, now the government decide for you. Yes, you can go in and buy cigarettes and alcohol, but if your kettle breaks down and you need a new one, tough!
You can’t buy clothing. It is, however, not the weather for naturism. You can buy chocolate, thus replacing some of the now deceased diabetics left untreated during the national lockdown. New sheets for your bed? Sorry, not till next month. A new bell for your little one’s bike? No problem, but a toy for their birthday? No chance. Do all Senedd ministers have shares in Amazon?
All this is set against a background of the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, telling the Commons that current death rates were on a par with the five year average for this time of year. Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne called the acts of worldwide governments following similar policies “Herd Stupidity” and this writer says he is right.
Will we now have smuggling across the Severn Bridge? Market traders from Bristol doubling the price for a back-street toaster in Cwmbran? Or will we have road blocks on the road from Welshpool to Shrewsbury to stop the principalities finest buying new sheets for their beds?
So, just what is the biggest gap to appear in the market? Well, it’s for a government or leader to step forward and put aside all the increasingly contradictory regulations, return to giving health advice and let each individual decide for themselves what is essential to them. The Libertarian Party says that is what’s needed. Come and join us. We can fill that gap.
Then, maybe we could go back to being a nation of shopkeepers?
Martin Day – Party Secretary