Christmas thoughts
I appreciate that with higher interest rates people’s willingness to spend this Christmas may overall be impaired.
Yet whether in Suffolk or London the shops are crowded, and the traffic heavy. It is tough to be in retailing, not least because of internet competition, and shop owners are hugely dependent on Christmas trade.
For me personally, there is no shopping rush as during the year I buy presents and put them aside in a cupboard. Eating a turkey disappeared from the Christmas lunch table when I discovered a delicious beef Wellington made to order by a Bury St Edmunds butcher. Margaret, the pastry chef, deserves a culinary medal.
In common with other MPs, I send out hundreds of Christmas cards. Last week I was rung up by a local journalist – not in my constituency- to enquire about this. They had received a card from me. The line was apparently going to be that this was all being done at taxpayers’ expense. Well it is not. It is not a refundable item, and nor should it be.
P.S. I was not thanked for the card either!