Happy New Year. I hope everyone has a peaceful and fulfilled twelve months. I trust we also avoid Gordon Brown’s impending storm clouds – never was a New Year message more filled with dread!
Anyway, a mish-mash of New Year thoughts.
And now he seems to be saying that even though we all pay for the NHS through our pay packet, if you do things the Government don’t approve of, you won’t be entitled to NHS care. And it is not as if you can take your National Insurance contributions elsewhere to someone who might provide that care. Smoking excessively might be first, but how long before other ‘risky’ activities start to be excluded from NHS coverage? It is a fact that healthcare costs will continue to rise as technology advances continually, but this is surely not the way to deal with that by excluding people from what is meant to be a universal service.
Oh – and Preston is competing with Blackpool again, I read. The Tithebarn development looks ver appealing. I warned early last year that the locating of a John Lewis in Preston would trump our new Debenhams. For Blackpool to keep up, we have to attract people through the whole ‘shopping experience’ rather than just the range of shops, where we will struggle to match Preston’s broader range. Consider Southport for example, who attract shoppers because of the shopping area’s ‘heritage’ feel. I lamented some time ago the fact Caffe Nero weren’t willing to open in Blackpool because they thought the townscape wasn’t right for their market – and I also expressed a desire to see outlets such as Betty’s, which does so much to make Harrogate an attractive alternative to the beauty of Leeds’ arcades. Our marketing needs to be that much sharper – I take no pride in saying I warned of Preston’s threat early last year, but it shows that we need to act fast, and once again, to think outside the box. Debenhams was never going to suffice.
£100,000 of library cuts from Labour Lancashire County Council? I’m not surprised. I’ve been doing some digging on this issue myself, still waiting for a few more answers, so watch this space.
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