Other speculations The majority of the population understands that supermarkets are steadily taking over the legitimate forms of trading that were previously carried out by individual specialist companies, such as insurance, a floral section, jewellery, and the latest one suggested is of car tyres. I think we have all found that as a result of out-of-town shopping, the quality of the high street has diminished, with some shops closed, and others converted to charity shops. I believe by now the majority of people realize that the low prices offered by the supermarkets, are at the expense of the providers, who are always under the cosh to bring their own prices down. In some cases this has shut the provider down, and put his staff out of work.
I believe that if our manufacturing, call centres, and other services are continued to be sent abroad, while the operators of these British companies are achieving savings, which have not been passed on to the economy of the country, it will have a long-term effect on the number of people unemployed. When you have a one-stop shopping mall, you are denying yourself the opportunity of comparison, knowledgeable assistance, and variety. What is on offer is the choice of the company, and you can either take it or leave it, but if there are no other shops carrying the articles that you are looking for, then your choice is limited to their taste. The one-stop system has also reduced the number of people required to service the customers. The advice you are likely to receive will be minimal and not knowledgeable. Specialized shops have staff trained in the merchandise. From what I have said above, it will be seen that if this policy of out-of-town shopping is perpetuated, we will all be in the hands of the shopping mall, and the level of people required to serve us in the past, will be swelling the ranks of the unemployed. All trading is a matter of competition by providing the best quality, commensurate with the lowest price. Get rid of the specialist shops in the high street, and there will be no competition, but there will also be an increase in the unemployed.
Another criticism When someone is launching a new product for manufacture, the first thing they do is a study of whether the new product will be viable, and have reasonable success in the marketplace. This is done in a number of ways, a questionnaire is carried on in the entrance to a supermarket, and often a small representative number of the general public is invited to a meeting in a hotel to give their views on a mock-up, or prototype of the article. So much today seems to be that someone in authority has an idea, and instead of this being tested, it is implemented whether successful or not, at considerable cost. A prime example occurred in our district, the Council provided us with a little green plastic box, about 10 inches cubed, beautifully made of high quality material, and was intended for people to place their plate scrapings in after meals. Placed in a kitchen, it did not meld either in colour, or because it was so was too large to be accommodated either on the shelving, or in cupboards. The principal was that the council was worried that these little scrapings would induce so much methane, when they rotted down, as to be a dangerous level of CO2. I asked one of my carers her views on the matter, she said that in the 40 homes that she dealt with, only one person was using the box. This is clearly a total waste of money, and with two or three trial runs in different districts, using a total of 36 boxes, this result would never have happened.
Another is this business of changing the electoral boundaries. I don’t think the average citizen could even cite the boundary of his or her electoral area, and what is more, probably doesn’t care. I believe that it is the politicians who are trying to justify their position. Taking the case of the change of the actual bounders, I suspect that this is going to cost a considerable amount of money for very little return, coupled with a vast amount of disruption For a start off, one must assume that the differences in area in many of the electoral areas, causing this change is fairly considerable, to cause this furores. Firstly, maps will have to be redrawn or modified, the routing of staff on the ground will have to be changed, some staff will have to be shifted, reallocated, and learn the problems in the new districts. Paperwork will have to be modified, and reprinted, accommodation for the change in the staff, including furniture and even offices will be affected. All records will have to be revised. The resedents will have to be notified which will be costly, and caused considerable disruption over a period of at least six-months if not a lot longer. The question the populace should be asking is why is this so urgent at a time of financial paucity?