Eating out - Alsager Chronicle Letter

Dear Editor,

I couldn't help but notice our local Labour MP parading around town, dining out at our fine local restaurants and loudly proclaiming her devotion to "supporting local business". How very touching. One can almost hear the violins playing in the background as she tucks into yet another meal that most of her constituents can now only dream about, but whose taxes have likely paid for. Did she bother to check the prices for eating out lately? Through the roof, that's where they are. And why might that be? Energy costs – significantly higher, thank you very much. Employment costs – jacked up thanks to those wonderful employer National Insurance hikes and minimum wage rises that hospitality businesses are apparently meant to absorb like magic. Ingredients costs – soaring as well. 

Restaurants are forced to charge more, cut staff, or simply close their doors. But never mind all that – our MP is out there heroically supporting the sector by... spending money she can clearly afford (probably on parliamentary expenses, naturally).

It's really, truly miserable to watch her rub her constituents' noses in the fact that she can still enjoy a nice meal out while so many of them cannot. For far too many local families, eating out isn't a choice anymore – it's become an impossible luxury. Instead, they're queuing at food banks, courtesy of the same socialist/communist economics that have driven costs sky-high and squeezed ordinary people until the pips squeak. 

But surprise, surprise: it's always the pigs at the top who get to feast, while the rest of us make do with the scraps. "Four legs good, two legs bad," eh? Or in this case, four courses good, food bank queue better. 

Perhaps our MP could try supporting local business in a more meaningful way – like easing the crushing burdens her government has piled on them – rather than just posing for the photo op with a fork in hand.

Andy Large

Alsager