Time to launch the "People's Woolies"
Posted by George Galloway, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, at 13:13, Mon 8 December 2008:
Tomorrow, Tuesday 9th December, I will be launching a petition calling for the government to take over the ailing Woolworths chain and create a “People’s Woolies”, saving 30,000 jobs and securing the retail outlet for the future.
I will be outside the Bethnal Green branch of Woolworths – 444 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 0EB – from 12 noon for an hour.
Woolworths would have celebrated a century of trading in this country next year. It has survived two world wars, the Great Depression and the oil shocks of the 1970s. But it has finally succumbed to this terrible credit crunch.
Woolworths is one of the first shops I ever remember going to. Although it has changed somewhat since I was a child, it still provides cheap goods, from sweets and toys, to kids’ clothing, DVDs and CDs, kitchen hardware and other useful items, predominantly to those on lower incomes.
Just as importantly it employs 30,000 people nationwide, including a significant number in Tower Hamlets in the Bethnal Green Road and Roman Road stores in my constituency, where we are already feeling the adverse effects of the meltdown in the banking sector.
In my view, Woolworths ought to be on Business Secretary Lord Mandelson’s list of companies which the government should intervene to save, as a matter of urgency. It’s on sale for just a £1 and, although there would be additional costs to keep it as a going concern, the government could turn it into a people’s Woolies, employing local people, buying from local producers and ensuring it provided the services and goods local people on low incomes need. The alternative is to allow the vultures to pick it apart for their own profit.
The government has been moving in the right direction in response to the credit crunch but not nearly fast or far enough. Now it needs to bite the bullet and take Woolies into public ownership to show it really does mean to try and stop the worst effects of this mother of all recessions.
Join me there tomorrow.
With best wishes
George Galloway
Comments
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Posted by Donald Beal, 18:04, Wed 7 January 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
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Posted by Mr J Kemp, 19:59, Wed 7 January 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
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Posted by George McFarlane, 21:16, Wed 7 January 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
I too have fond memories of Woolworths, and will mourn its passing. But if a business model is not sound enough to see it through difficult economic times, its preservation becomes counter-productive. The management of the retailer in question failed to adapt to the 21st century marketplace: it was marginalised by online retailers and its high street competitors, both of which offered consumers greater choice and lower prices. The "credit crunch" has merely exposed this.
Government intervention would be anti-competitive and would distort the market. Moreover, if the "People's Woolies" wished to offer a product range of equal quality and variety as those sold by other retailers (necessary if it wished to make a profit), it would be forced to import foreign goods- negating the benefit to local "producers". Although public ownership of Woolworths would save jobs in the short-term, it would ultimately stifle both the company's growth and that of the entire retail sector. This would damage its employees' prospects and prevent the creation of new jobs.
In times as challenging as these, our representatives would be wise to tell their constituents what they need to know, rather than what they want to hear. I nonetheless thank my Member of Parliament for his communication (which, curiously enough, did not trigger an e-mail notification until a full month after its original posting).
Posted by Matthew Somerville, 00:36, Thu 8 January 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
Apologies for the severe delay in the email delivery of this message, which was due to an administrative error on my part. Matthew, HearFromYourMP.
Posted by Antonella Pavone, 14:54, Thu 8 January 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1108971/Rival-protesters-clash-police-Gaza-demonstration-descends-violence.html
George is not for Peace but I feel he is worried about loosing his job.
Posted by elias ali, 13:34, Sun 11 January 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
I will be there