On a financial programme this morning, it emerged that the majority of cod caught in Scottish waters is exported to China to be filleted, then re-exported back to UK supermarkets for sale!

I don't think I've heard anything quite so bonkers as this in a long while. Apparently it works out "cheaper", cheaper for who?....the supermarket chains maybe?.....certainly not the shopper, judging by today's cost of a small portion of fish tightly wrapped in plastic.

I would have thought the SNP; so ready to defend perceived Scottish interests, might have had something to say about this?

In complete contrast, a recent Radio 4 programme highlighted a Nottinghamshire village that still operates the old medieval system of "strip field farming", where, thanks to a benevolent landowner, local farmers are allocated their own strips of land to farm, leaving a strip at each end uncultivated for wildlife to flourish. No insecticide is allowed. Produce is sold locally at reasonable prices, benefitting both local farmer and consumer.

Perhaps, post Brexit, this kind of more self-reliant "back to the future" lifestyle would benefit us all?....

Have family from Grimsby area. The fishing and food packing industry is in terminal decline. The factories are closing and there are very few vessels landing fish anymore.

Globalisation is one thing, the EU fishing policy another, and when minimum wage is £7.83, you have alot of reason to move operations elsewhere.

Yet the population there votes labour. I cant quite work it out, and I dont think the voters have linked the topics either. Too much need for welfare since the industry has been decimated by politicans.

Found your post interesting. I'm old enough to remember when fresh fish from Grimsby, Hull, Folkestone etc. was transported overnight by rail overnight to the major cities. The London fishmonger would collect his order from Billingsgate fish market in the early hours, and his customers would get fresh fish that same morning.

Your post is an example of how developments over the years are all connected, for instance (correct me if I'm wrong) but Grimsby was one of the many port towns affected by the decimation of the railways by Beeching many years ago?....so the fast method of overnight transportation was suddenly gone. The fishmongers no longer got their supply of fresh fish, they closed down and are now a rarity in many towns. The supermarket is often the only place where you can buy fish.(usually wrapped in plastic) The EU made the final "killer punch" by limiting the fisherman's catch.

Towns like Grimsby go into decline, unemployment rises, the government loses out as well, by having to pay out increased amounts in benefits, whilst no longer getting the income tax take from formerly employed people.

It's not a case of getting "nostalgic for the past" as mentioned in some posts, more a question of who wins out through the decimation of our fishing industry?....

A local trader summed it up for me recently when I was in conversation re. the number of small shops closing down in my area (including the fishmonger). He said..."Our little shops were ticking over quite nicely up until a few years ago....Then they (the local Council) decided to plonk yellow lines down our street so no-one could park anymore to pick up heavy goods.....then, under pressure from the Liberal chattering classes, decided to pedestrianize the High Street....fine for those sitting outside Starbucks enjoying their Cappuccinos, but disastrous for the local bootmaker/repairer providing a service. Then the Government upped the business rate.to reflect all the "improvements".

Apparently it's called progress. ...

In the past, food and clothing used to be a significantly greater percentage of household spending than they are today, while now housing, transport and leisure now get a greater proportion than they used to:



or as a table



(Sources here or here).

Globablisation is surely responsible for food and clothing deflation, so it's conceivable nationalism, isolationism, trade barriers etc could cause a swing back to the historic spending proportions. Not sure people will appreciate it though (unless slashing housing and transport costs to free up cash for other spending was part of the solution).

I'd argue it suggests that thanks to globalisation, the costs of basic goods has fallen and quality of life has risen as people have more disposable income to spend on services and transport.

I'm not quite sure where benefits and modern home technology comes into this. Again, I'd argue globalisation has allowed the cost of useful items such as smartphones to be low enough for the average Joe. Getting wound up at low income families who are "taking the piss" because they used some of their money to buy a widescreen tele shows a real disconnect from the lives of those less well off imo.