Peter Hill

IBELONG to the branch of humanity that hates Marmite so I wasn’t fussed about it going up in price, but I am seriously bothered about a warning last week that virtually all household goods will soon be at least 10p dearer because of the falling value of the pound.

“Clearly a 15 or 20 per cent depreciation will raise import costs… we can be sure there is upward pressure on shop prices,” said Richard Baker, chairman of the British Retail Consortium. Prices of many items have already been quietly raised and many more increases are in the pipeline.

With the pound worth about 17 per cent less against foreign currencies it would be unreasonable to expect shops to freeze prices of goods that involve imports and given the hot competition you would expect increases to be kept as low as possible.

But how ironic that Brexit should cause exactly the same round of price rises that happened when the Common Market/EU was born and which has led to the ridiculous state of affairs where a once cheap lunch in a Greek taverna can now cost the same as a London or Paris restaurant.

And what happens when the pound recovers, as it will? Do you think prices will come down? Hmmm. q SCOTLAND’S First Minister Nicola Sturgeon insists she wants independence despite her country’s decisive referendum vote to stay in the UK.

She plans to go ahead with another vote, a waste of time because, a) it won’t be sanctioned by the UK Government and will therefore be invalid, b) all the polls say the Scottish people are still against independence, c) Scotland won’t be able to join the EU on its own because other members do not want to appear to be encouraging secession, d) perhaps most decisive, an independent Scotland would be bankrupt owing billions.

But here’s a solution: let the English vote on independence for Scotland and I guarantee there would be a big majority in favour. Because we are fed up of handing over £1,600 per head extra a year so they can enjoy free prescriptions we are denied and free university education.

Most of all because we are sick of them griping as they take our money. q THE Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is expected to flaunt its power passing Britain on its way to Syria next week. It is thought a few of its fighters might buzz around our airspace just for the hell of it and to show Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson what President Putin thinks of his fighting talk against Russian bombing.

Royal Navy ships are standing by and the scenario is ripe for a confrontation. Similar Cold War-type games are happening between Russia and the United States. It will take only one incident, even accidental, to spark a real war. But surely, you say, it will never go nuclear, no one could be that stupid, not even Trump?

I admire your optimism. But better start digging your shelter and stockpiling food – they’re already preparing in Germany. And Russia. q BANK of England Governor Mark Carney has warned the Prime Minister not to tell him how to do his job after she said his policies had hit savers, pensioners and the young. “We are not going to take instruction from the political side,” he said.

I’ve never understood the decision in 1998 to give absolute power to the Bank on such vital issues as interest rates and quantitative easing (printing money). These are political decisions that government has no business abrogating to unelected technocrats like Carney.

Mrs May is said to be a control freak. Perhaps she should take back control of the money. And sack the very political Mr Carney, who deserved the boot months ago for his blatant backing for Remain. q AS A CYCLIST I love the magnificent new bike lanes criss-crossing London. As a motorist I hate them because entire road lanes have been sacrificed to them and congestion is the worst ever. A survey confirms that traffic jams have jumped 40 per cent in just four years. Buses on some routes are averaging only 3.8mph, barely above walking pace.

It’s a similar story in other big cities, blamed not just on cycle lanes but the vast increase in the number of minicabs and vans delivering online orders. Air quality is awful with thousands of vehicles stuck in traffic spewing out fumes.

I’m sure planners are deliberately trying to exclude motorised vehicles from cities, and perhaps they’re right, but adequate alternatives are decades away. Meanwhile we all suffer. q THE 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings is being celebrated but how many people realise how vast a change it brought. William and his conquering French split the land between them and everything of value in it, ruthlessly itemised in the Domesday Book. Their descendants still own most of it.

In 1973 we allowed our country to be controlled again by foreigners when we joined the Common Market. But at last we have woken up and voted for freedom. The self-interested bigwigs who want to keep us in captivity must not succeed. q OUR home has been invaded by a mouse and my wife says we’ll have to move if I can’t get rid of it. We’ve survived infestations of spiders, ladybirds and moths but for some reason one little mouse is too much. What is it about mice that upsets women even more than turning up in the same dress as someone else?