Why, why, why?
I think it's important that politicians read the news. I don't think anyone would disagree that it's vital they know what's actually going on in the country, and the news is, if not the best source for that, the best we've got.
But why has EVERY FUCKING HEADLINE for the last month been an issue for parliament? Oh no, a major company has gone into administration. Big. Shitting. Deal. This happens every day, although normally to a lesser degree. Hell, I could identify at least one organisation in Sheffield that almost certainly isn't a going concern any more if I was allowed to.
The prime minister said: 'The important thing is in the long-run that employees in this company - where the businesses and the shops are not going to stay open in the longer term - can get other jobs quickly. That's why we're going to move in immediately to give advice to employees in the company.'
No, Gordon, that's why you ought to invest more money in the DWP. Why are 30,000 Woolworths employees are higher priority than the 1,820,000 people currently unemployed in this country? Do they have particularly impressive skills? Are they astonishing customer service representatives? They're scarcely Lush workers - who could, of course, dive blissfully into any job they please were their shops to close.
But then, Lush is going to see an amazing trade this Christmas. Surely this is a sign that we don't need Woolworths anymore. Fopp, squeezed out of a highly competitive market because it lacked the established saturation of HMV and Virgin, is missed not because of its unique offer but because of its style, flair, ethics and, let's face it, impulse-friendly prices. What does Woolworths have, normally spread across two stores in every town centre, that isn't already in half a dozen others?
Like so much else in the news recently, our educated, angry and arrogant hindsight begs to scream Why didn't you see this coming? And while as individuals it's natural occasionally to overreact, I am agonisingly and furiously rabid at the government for jumping on yet another case-study in an attempt to appear pro-active, when the bigger picture is far more dreadful.
