Grey days

1.

An email arrives from B&Q “to let you know about some important changes to the Diamond Card discount.” When a retailer refers to important changes it usually means price rises, and so it is  in this case. Grey Wednesdays are over – that is when the over-60s could enjoy a 10% discount on everything instore. Now the discount is to be limited to ‘gardening products’ only. This of course is all in aid of maintaining ‘our best price every day you shop.’
Given that B&Q rarely was the cheapest place to buy stuff – but simply had a bigger choice under one roof – I can now envisage diamond DIY geezers shopping around a lot more, perhaps even making more use of the internet. I think B&Q have shot themselves in the foot. I don’t think people minded paying a little extra to get a little discount. That’s the curious psychology of the consumer, daft as it seems.

2.
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When Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour leader in 2015, anti-semitic incidents in the UK actually dropped, according to the Community Security Trust. They have sadly risen again. But between 2012 and 2014 they doubled. If I recollect, that’s during Ed Miliband’s term as leader of the Labour Party. He was a Jew of course, once photographed eating a bacon sarnie, and many times demonised, along with his father by the right-wing press. I don’t recollect the Jewish Labour Movement or the Board of Deputies attacking the right wing media with the venom they now reserve for Jeremy Corbyn.