Yerg wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:40 pm

Doc67 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:04 pm In other news, Sports Direct have announced that they are now an essential supplier as people will want sporting gear to assist their new exercise regimes. Well, we all now their principal demographic and their love of trainers, know what I mean?

They are just trying to cash in on being the last man standing in the high street that is open. They have been roundly criticised.

I have a solution. The police should announce that they will only respond to armed robberies of Sports Direct branches, and NOT to any petty theft / shoplifting. When this news gets out the shelves of Sports Direct will be as empty as those of Tesco's bread aisles at 10am. So too will be their tills (cash registers).
Watch them pull the shutters down then...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... s-lockdown

Mr. Ashley has made an abrupt U-turn!!!

I would like to think he reads my musings, but a good public shaming has done the trick!

Talking of public shaming, I think recent events should encourage people (you and I and everyone we know) to boycott China and drag them, force them to drag themselves in line with less medieval behaviour.

Not government to government sanctions at a political level, because that might get nasty.
Get them where it hurts them. Stop buying Chinese anything; cheap knock-offs, and high end items alike. Stuff manufactured in China- shame these corporations into making stuff elsewhere. Apple, etc. If the Chinese can manufacture it and ship it, so can just about any other country, except maybe a small few.

Encourage Amazon, eBay, to make abundantly clear the identity of any So-called local based seller, or any other Pseudo identity of Chinese online sellers, so that they can simply be avoided. Stop allowing these cretins to hide behind their advertising, with a UK based, ‘VAT-registered’ company, while actually operating from a warehouse in Hong Kong or Shanghai.

Impose a China tax. If an item sold in the west costs £6, of which £1.20 is tax, and £5 might otherwise go in the Chinese bank account; add a world recovery tax. Let’s say 20%. So only £4 goes in the Chinese bank account. Have the Chinese, who have far too long been benefiting from the west’s desire for cheaper and more availability, start paying back.

I know, there’ll be a few liberals and fence sitters who will be howling ‘racist’ and similar slurs in my direction. I guess you won’t be buying me a beer anytime soon.

Half a Million people just signed on the dole in 9 days in the UK. This number is going to go through the roof.

"Downing Street says China faces a 'reckoning' over the coronavirus and risks becoming a 'pariah state' as Boris Johnson faces pressure to scrap the Huawei deal"

They are furious over China’s campaign of misinformation, attempts to exploit the pandemic for economic gain and atrocious animal rights record.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavi ... spartandhp

"China also contributed to the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) desperately needed by Britain's doctors, nurses and other health professionals...Chinese leaders commandeered vast amounts of PPE, made in factories across China and destined for export."

"UK safety equipment firm JSP had its two factories in China 'requisitioned by the government to make disposable RPE [respiratory protection equipment] for Chinese government agencies', according to a letter its chief executive Mark Johnstone sent to customers on February 3."

My hated of China is growing daily

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... No-10.html

UK Retail sales figures are coming in for the month of March.
I heard this on the radio so haven't got a source in for it (yet) but:

Retail sales (excluding food) DOWN 20% with clothing down 40% (so Cambodia relevant). More industry specific figures will be coming in soon.

This is with the lockdown being in effect from Monday 23rd March, so 9 days out of 31.

These are the largest falls on record and next month will be even worse. With the lockdown looking to remain for at least another 14 days and possibly the whole month, next month will be even worse. Factor in that many companies have been selling existing stock with supplies lines severely interrupted and stopped altogether, the future of retail sales is looking very grim. So too is the government's VAT income which will also get crushed in the next few months. Out of control spending and crashing tax receipts is a recipe for disaster.

cptrelentless wrote: ↑Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:45 pm £13 billion in historic NHS debt written off:

He was very unimpressive. They all are. If the public loose faith in them their lockless lockdown will not last too long.