Climate change to end capitalism

AT COUNTY HALL with political editor PAUL FRANCIS

Following the Extinction Rebellion march in Canterbury, I suspect the chances of our political and business leaders taking the action this group demands are non-existent. Nevertheless, I thought the following idea might help them in their consideration of a course of action:

If the current scientific consensus on climate change is correct, the insurance industry could be crushed under the weight of claims following natural disasters, following which capitalism would, one assumes, be finished because insurance is a vital component of a capitalist system.

hhave a bbaker,k a fifishmonger,h a butcher and a greengrocer - where do you find them now?

“These smaller stores played a big role in our communities. To people they were a lifeline, not only in terms of getting the produce, but the engagement; getting to know people, building local communities. You don’t have that any more.

“But our lives are changing. We are all busier and it is more convenient for us to go to one place and get everything under one roof.” Tesco has been far from alone in changing our shopping habits - but it was the one which drove it with aggressive expansion.

Yet it is perhaps at something of a crossroads today. Still feeling the impact of an accounting scandal in 2014, the shopping habits we developed that it fed so hungrily on have evolved. As we tightened our belts, we opted to make more frequent trips to smaller stores and cut back on big weekly shops.

Suddenly, Tesco was scrambling to open smaller stores back in town centres and scrapping plans for more megastores.

In addition, earlier this year it confirmed thousands of jobs would go nationwide as it looked to cut the specialist counters in a number of its bigger outlets. Ironically, the likes of the fishmongers and delicatessens which saw off traditional retailers all those years ago will face the axe.

Plus, it continues to feel the heat of young pretenders like discount chains Aldi and Lidl