Is doesn’t have to be ‘​Bah – Humbug!’ this Christmas!

Over the centuries this simple, two-word phrase has embedded itself to such an extent that it has become synonymous with pouring cold water on things and generally expressing disdain.

It is easy to see why many retailers are crying “Bah humbug” when they contemplate the efforts of government, at all levels, to help them. Local retail is under pressure like never before, with cost of doing business rising relentlessly and faceless online giants simply adding to the challenge. Government at Westminster has brought forward changes to National Insurance and Living Wage costs that will see almost 10% added to the payroll overhead. Government at Stormont has received funds from Westminster as a direct result of a specific retail assistance scheme in England but deliberately chosen to spend this funding elsewhere and not to provide the rates relief to retail and hospitality that could have made such a difference; and Stormont has also shown itself falling desperately short as it presides over widespread traffic chaos, failing repeatedly to build key infrastructure that could alleviate the pressure whilst simultaneously conspiring to make a hostile environment for car drivers in a misguided attempt to force people to abandon car use before adequate public transport is developed. And even at local council level we see dysfunctionality as, more than a year on, they have still failed to distribute the ‘urgent relief’ funding to many of those businesses who found themselves flooded by Storm Babet, meaning they were still not fully restored for a second consecutive Christmas season.

Given this litany of decisions - or non-decisions - a collective cry of ‘Bah Humbug’ would be justified; but there are other choices to be made by all of us that could mitigate the actions and inactions of government and show the power of the individual. As Scrooge also observed, people’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead – “but if the courses be departed from, the ends will change”. It is time for all of us to depart from the course and change the ends. As the advent calendar of retail sees a diminishing number of doors left to open, we have choices to make that could ‘change the ends’. Consciously making the decision to shop locally instead of going online can be transformative, as it sustains the fabric of our villages, towns and cities that we all enjoy, but of which we can be so careless. Every click we make to buy online is akin to the tap of a nail into the coffin of a local shop. Rather than just calling on slow and cumbersome layers of government to do something, we have the power to take action ourselves; let’s not squander that opportunity. It is a rare thing when we can do something we enjoy whilst, simultaneously, doing so much good – protecting jobs and sustaining local businesses – so let’s all make a positive choice to shop locally in this final run-up to Christmas.

That decision and action is in all our hands but, in parallel, we must continue to demand much better decision-making and action from every layer of government. The New Year will present an opportunity for resolutions. We must encourage Ministers and officials to resolve to do much, much better; to set their standards high and underpin them with timelines and targets; to be restless in their pursuit of excellence in public service. That should not be an unachievable Christmas wish but the very minimum for which our public servants ought to aspire.