The write stuff

SO FAREWELL to the hi-fi, the three-piece suite and the humble envelope. And hello Alexa, peanut butter and herbal tea.

The annual publication of the official ‘basket of goods’ that measures price movements from the Office for National Statistics provides a snapshot of modern UK habits.

I can’t say I’ll miss sofa sets all that much — but I will shed a tear for the envelope. With the exception of the brown variety (which never herald anything except bad news), a letter — especially hand-written — was one of the few remaining reminders of a world where people took time to sit down and compose their thoughts instead of just bashing out a quick email or shouting at each other on Twitter.