Christmas has come early for some citizens, according to the Chancellor. Now he’s unveiled measures designed to stimulate the economy and get us spending again, one thing’s clear — we’re still not happy. Critics say he’s foolhardy, that he’s discriminating against the haves. We’ve become a nation of moaners. OK, high-street sales are slumping, and Marks and Spencer are contemplating another stupendous one-day sale. John Lewis is feeling the pinch, and organic vegetables are shunned as too costly. You’d think we were back at the end of the ‘40s, with rationing, economy provisions, no luxuries like stockings and little chance of more than a home-knitted woolly under the Christmas tree. My parents not only spent years apart during the war — without a mobile phone or a Blackberry to communicate, instead posting lovingly handwritten letters to each other that might take months to arrive. They also managed to repair gadgets, make their own decorations, and cook meals using economy cuts and root vegetables. They brewed their own wine and beer and enjoyed simple entertainment like listening to the radio and playing cards. All contributed to a robust ability to cope when money was in short supply.Thank God I experienced some of that growing up, because it has certainly helped me to not buy things I can’t afford and to adopt a cautious outlook on purchasing unnecessary luxuries. Yes, we’re in a recession, but for most of the middle Britain it’s not as challenging as life in 1949. If you’ve still got a job, you’re lucky. Time to think positive and start reinventing that true British grit that got us through a couple of wars. Time to stop whingeing about the price of a turkey, a bottle of sauvignon blanc, a gallon of petrol, or the cost of your central heating. In 1949 we were fitter, worked harder and saved more. Now we’re a bunch of spoilt sissies. For pensioners and those without work, things will be tough over the coming months, even with the Government’s handouts. But reading the headlines in some papers you’d think the middle classes were facing unprecedented hardship. Some Tory pundits predict the rich will leave the country. Really? From a comment by Janet Street-Porter in ‘The Independent’
