Will Gord get thanked for all the bargains?

If there’s one place where the recession will be most apparent in the coming months it’s going to be the High Street. Yesterday one major retail chain changed hands for just £1 and others are reported to be struggling particularly in the non-essentials sector of the market.

Tomorrow I expect to be buying a new computer and my first thought was to go to a big national chain where there are some impressive bargains. But then I read that the firm’s holding company had seen a dramatic drop in its share prices and there are question marks about its future. I will now probably go to John Lewis instead. So my decision will add to the other firm’s problems.

Everybody’s talking about prices being slashed and there’s little doubt that shoppers who have the money are going to have a good time in the coming months – but what’s going to be the political reaction?

Will people thank Gordon for the low prices or will the mass of sales be an ongoing reminder that something is wrong with the economy?

This is all a hard call and a lot might depend on how Monday’s PBR statement by the chancellor goes down.

Our cartoon is by the excellent Marf of LondonSketchBook.com.

Mike Smithson