Goings on

+I am disappointed with the news that Wilko’s (short for Wilkinson’s), a discount chainstore, with 12,000 employees nationwide has announced it has filed for administration. It was one of the last remaining family owned businesses with a major presence on the high street. In a place like Scarborough, which despite having a Tory MP is a low wage, high deprivation (in parts) economy the need for such shops is evident. Is its potential closure all down to Covid (the Tories’ excuse for everything these days), online shopping (do people really buy shampoo and bird seed online?) or just the oft-predicted death of the high street? I suppose Wilko’s may have rented many of its premises, so unlike Morrisons (another family owned or at least run business with lots of capital and land assets) it won’t hold much attraction to asset stripping hedge funds. The death spiral of the high street continues. At least here in Scarborough we still have another family business, Boyes, which has a big presence and which resolutely sticks to its old fashioned back to basics presentation (why waste money on modernisation?). And God help us if Marks and Spencers go. I doubt that these jewels can all be replaced by 'genuine' German Donner Kebab and Thai Bubble Tea shops. Or am I missing something? Don’t people need places on the high street where they can sit down with a coffee and do their online shopping? At least here in Scarborough, thanks to the enterprising new artspace organisation, the Old Parcels Office, three vacant shops in town are being converted into artspaces.
 
+Perhaps Greenpeace felt they were being outdone by Just Stop Oil, so their stunt covering Rishi Sunak’s constituency residence with some kind of black cloth has retrieved the situation somewhat. Four or five activists have been arrested, although given that they no doubt took care not to cause any damage they won’t be charged with anything serious—causing a public nuisance or trespassing with intent may be the most they’ll get done for. I doubt Sunak’s constituency home sees much use anyway, what with No. 10, Chequers and California. Since I have argued that MPs—who wield the power—and not the public generally should be the subject of protests I can’t say I’m terribly horrified by this latest stunt. It’s not as if they’ve been shovelling excrement through your letterbox. There were times when I wondered when returning home from Westminster whether my house could have been the subject of attack. It’s not a nice feeling. But it does focus the mind. And no, my house was never targeted, although during the MPs’ expenses scandal one wondered what might happen. That of course was not on quite the same scale as conniving with the fossil fuel lobby in the destruction of civilisation as we know it.