Is shopping till we drop as patriotic as it has been cracked up to be?
sir – Now that shops are reopening, we are encouraged to be patriotic and spend, spend, spend.
Yet many goods are made in China or Far-eastern sweat shops. How is buying these patriotic, and how does it support our own manufacturing base?
Andrew Mcallister
Shrewsbury
sir – I am nervous in crowded places, like many emerging from lockdown.
In the short term, I shall only seek essential services. I do not believe that it is my responsibility to risk my health to keep unprofitable businesses afloat.
John Catchpole
Beverley, East Yorkshire
sir – Retail businesses that treat their customers like disease-ridden pariahs will quickly lose trade.
If they feel the need to conform to the “new normal”, they should do so with courtesy, or the decimated high street will cease to exist entirely.
Kim Halliday
Newport, Essex
sir – My inbox has messages from retailers saying they are now open, but there are no toilet facilities. How dim is that? No loos, no shopping.
Tim Pope
Weybridge, Surrey
sir – Being unlocked now in Australia to a greater extent than people in the UK, I can reassure the British that as one starts to socialise at home and go out to restaurants, anxiety soon dissipates and common sense kicks in.
We continue to wear masks in supermarkets and busy shops. Restaurants space us out to one person per four square metres. We only go to restaurants on our own or with friends as inclined as we are to stay safe, who would not come if they felt ill.
At home we have had four occasions to invite friends or family for meals. We spread guests out as much as possible, generally a metre apart.
In short, this is as normal as you would expect.
Ben Sington
Blairgowrie, Victoria, Australia
sir – What a pity that allowing Black Lives Matter rallies and counter demonstrations has been taken as permission for others with nothing on their minds but selfish pleasure to attend raves. To them it appears that No Lives Matter.
Denis Sharp
Backwell, Somerset
sir – A local beer garden has groups of people complying with the two-metre rule and enjoying a drink and chat with friends. Drinks and snacks are bought from the shop next door. Yet the nearby pub has to remain closed.
Ann Hyett
Yate, Gloucestershire
sir – Since we are asked to be flexible and work from home, when will train operators be more flexible with ticket pricing? For many people it is simply uneconomic to buy a season ticket to be used only, say, three days a week, or to buy three daily tickets.
Ian Rennardson
Tunbridge Wells, Kent