Leader: Time for some restraint at the tills

Published on Monday 12 December 2011 00:00

IT IS increasingly hard these days to find good news. So the fact that John Lewis stores had record sales last week, up by 2 per cent on its previous record, is unexpectedly cheering.

Retailing is a significant part of the economy and a very significant employer, so if this uplift is reflected in the rest of the high street, it is good economic news.

Slightly more worrying, however, is the discovery, via a survey, that thousands of people are apparently willing to risk losing their home just for the sake of having a shopping splurge this Christmas. Shelter Scotland, a housing charity, found that one in 12 tenants expected to miss a rental payment, and one in 14 homeowners thought they would not meet a mortgage payment, in order to make sure their Christmas was really jolly.

Hmm. Perhaps it is time, as with alcohol, for a sensible shopping campaign. Perhaps it should be suggested that if budgets are really tight, it does not make much sense to burst waistbands by buying an overly large turkey and too many choccies.

Yes, we know, we sound a bit bah humbuggish. But we really don’t want to be reporting that on the twelfth day of Christmas, 12 or probably many more bailiffs are a-leaping around our readers’ possessions, which are out on the street.

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