Doesn’t it feel as if Britain has got itself into a mess in the last few years?

I hope all is well.

I don’t want to be overly negative here, but boy-oh-boy doesn’t it feel as if Britain has got itself into a mess in the last few years? The last government was awful, and the current one is no better. I know it isn’t easy, in fact it may well be impossible to get a whole lot right, but I am not sure that this lot is getting anything right.

There has been a great deal of talk about business rates recently. The government, being courageous enough to change their minds (often a positive attribute in my opinion*), do seem to be taking some concerns seriously. But only some.

Just to note three things here.

First, clearly there would be less need for mind-changing if the ministers bothered canvassing serious, informed opinion first.

Second, ministers, perhaps even the PM, have to stop worrying about being popular. I do get this desire, both personally and professionally, but nothing good can be achieved if this is your primary concern. If you’re doing it right you have nothing to fear.

Third, we need to figure out a way that small businesses can be as well represented to politicians as big biz, because the latter have access to lobbyists and small do not. This is a significant concern, particularly in a world where ministers genuinely believe (because they have been told so by lobbyists) that the economy relies on big biz to create wealth. This is, at very best, only partly true; without doctors, publicans, librarians, firefighters, mechanics, record shop owners etc, there would not be a society for big biz to rely on, to, let’s face it, exploit.

So.

The issue we have with business rates is in fact a wider issue, which is that successive governments simply don’t understand either the value of our High Streets or the struggles of small business. I know that this might sound glib, or hyperbolic or even self-serving, but it is true.

It’s fine, of course it’s absolutely right, to try to make business rates affordable for pubs, whether they’re a part of a big chain, a small group or an owner-operated place. But what about book shops? What about butchers and bakers, hardware shops, record shops?

Charity shops are a good thing. Of course they are, even if some are amazing and some are total dumps. But why should they get a business rate relief of 80% (which can be topped up to 100%) if a book shop doesn’t? I would argue that a book shop, a record shop, a local hardware shop, or indeed a pub, is every bit as important as a charity shop. Each local business, each high street, has a vital, life-giving impact on quality of life, on our mental and physical health, on our society.

Is it not vital that local people can wander our pavements, making friends, chatting, spending a few quid in the post office, walking, gossiping, stopping for a cup of coffee? Is this not what life is for? Is this not what we have done for centuries because it keeps us sane, because it is what makes life bearable?

Or am I wrong, and financial services and big box online retailers are all we want? That way we can stay at home and a few people will get very rich while we look at Instagram, and answer the door to an Amazon driver?

Now, I know that this has been said time and time again, that it has reached the point where everyone nods their head sagely and agrees. But we need to do something about it.

Because unless the government take this seriously and actually appoint proper, expert, informed Tzars or Ministers or whatever, to action this, then society will suffer. We are going backwards and it is only due to the extraordinary efforts of the truly remarkable, driven, imaginative, energetic and community-minded people who run High Street businesses that we have any such businesses in existence.

A photograph of the chancellor behind a bar, smiling (she is always smiling, come hell or high water; I suppose you have to admire such a thick skin) holding a pint is not enough. It is pathetic.

By the way, I do have a pub and shops, and even a baker, and yet my interest is not simply vested. I profoundly believe in the notion that we need to take quality of life more seriously in this country, and by believing in small business we will help with that.

I’ll write more soon if you’re interested.

We are, by the way, opening a new shop soon, not just for G / H but partly. More anon.

*Finally, on my comment about changing your mind, above. I think that this is a good quality and shows wisdom and courage. And it should not be mocked as ‘doing a U-turn’. Any half-sentient being should change their mind on things as they learn more about them. I may not like a particular government minister or whatever, but nor do I like some self-important, shouty Radio 4 presenter admonishing someone for listening, learning and adapting to that knowledge.

So there!

Here are lots of amazing things to buy.

Over and out. Big love.

Charlie.