Friday, August 22, 2008

'Hard Times' by Nicholas Clegg

The Independent relates how La Famille Clegg is having to tighten its belt:

-No more Waitrose - it's Lidl Sainsburys for the Cleggs now
-Belt tightening caused by a "painful" move from a fixed rate mortgage
-Turning down the heating
-No more hotels abroad for hols - it's shacking up with the in-laws
-An Electric moped used instead of a car ("Hurrah!" on the green front)

It is good to see that our PR girls and boys are bringing this sort of human story into the media.

Overall, I can see people generally being sympathetic to this Clegg story. However, I think the sympathy will be more heartfelt in the Home Counties and the more salubrious parts of the country, than elsewhere.

Having to change from Ocado (the web arm of Waitrose) to Sainsburys is likely to be laughed at in some quarters. We're not exactly talking Skid Row here are we? If Nick Clegg was skulking along on Friday evenings to Lidls to scrape up "passed sell-by date" bargains at Lidl's "reduced for a quickie" shelf, then it might indicate a serious situation.

That said, this Clegg picture comes across as human and sincere. But they are still sitting on some fairly decent equity for a house in one of the most prestigious parts of Putney, with two way-above-average salaries coming in.

So I doubt whether this article is going to excite buckets of tears of sympathy. But I suspect Team Clegg knows that. This does at least bring a little human dimension to the Cleggster.

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