Not buying it

Published on 23/01/2013 00:00

Les Reid (Letters, 22 January) slates Alex Salmond for encouraging Amazon to grow in Scotland. The subsidy given by the Scottish Government to this company was for the express purpose of encouraging it to invest in thousands of Scottish new jobs.

The fact that those jobs are, in part, offset by job losses in the high street is hardly Mr ­Salmond’s fault.

The simple fact is that we no longer want traditional shops. We much prefer to buy our books, CDs, electronics and ­leisure goods from online stores where we get a better choice, better service and better prices than the high street.

It is, quite simply, a sea change in the global marketplace which is driven by consumer ­preferences.

The fact that Amazon (and other similar traders) may not pay as much corporation tax as we think it should is a matter that requires to be addressed – at least pre-2014 – by the London government rather than our ­Edinburgh politicians.

James D Brown

Elgin