Christmas version of Eat Out to Help Out should be Buy British to Save Jobs - Sarah Todd

Before some wise wag chirps up, yes it did lose a bit of momentum after it was discovered some promotional T-shirts were in fact made in Portugal but until that point the British public took the cause to their hearts.

Once we are safely out of lockdown the recent Eat Out to Help Out scheme should be remodelled with a back British bias.

Why should pubs and restaurants have been the only ones to get the Government perk?

What about butchers selling British meat and bakers using British flour and sugar?

Greengrocers, British breweries, vineyards, cheese makers could all benefit too...

But why stop at food and drink? Bought a British-made car in what remains of 2020? Well, the Treasury will reward you.

It should be the same with bikes, televisions and any household goods manufactured in the UK.

There needs to be a big push to encourage people to buy Christmas gifts that have been made in Britain.

From clothing to cosmetics, pet treats and home and garden products it’s amazing what is still made in Britain.

For those going on staycation, it’s possible to buy everything from tents to bats and balls and raincoats that are being manufactured right here, right now, in this country.

Eat Out to Help Out was an innovative starting point but it’s vital that it evolves to support British farmers and producers, along with all sectors banging the drum for locally-made items.

It’s time to encourage a wider movement that promotes buying British from dawn until dusk.

It should become part of our DNA to buy British wherever possible and be confident in the knowledge that we’re supporting a wider scheme to support home-grown industry, jobs and innovation.

Time is of the essence. A big Boris-backed push on buying British needs to be launched now – to get the momentum going in time for Christmas.

As a nation, we should be supported to eat a Christmas dinner that hasn’t had a field to fork journey from outside the UK.

Hell will freeze over before my Christmas table has any crackers from China on it. Little nieces will no longer be getting stocking filler plastic rubbish. They will get one decent present that’s been made in Britain and good riddance to all the tat.

As an aside, this correspondent went to buy a face covering the other day and then realised it had been made in China. The irony.

My new mask ended up coming from the local Women’s Institute, which had made them to raise funds for the village hall which has had its hiring out income decimated by Covid.

Somebody will write in and complain or Tweet – modern moaners like to be behind a keyboard – to say such a Buy British plan isn’t right and proper.

Well, bring it on. Now is a time for celebrating everything home-made, British produced or manufactured.

That’s not to be ignorant about other cultures and their innovations.

The time will come to holiday abroad again and buy the latest hi-tech gadgets from far-flung places. But it’s not now.

Now is a time to celebrate and support what we’ve got under our noses right here, right now.

If we don’t there won’t be any toys made in Britain by next Christmas. Back to where we started.

It was in 1968, a few weeks after devaluation, that the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson launched the “I’m Backing Britain” campaign.

A group of Surbiton secretaries began it all when they worked an extra half an hour a day for free and many thousands followed their lead in the face of great opposition from trade unions.

Yes, the old rose-tinted spectacles are on, but there’s something about the spirit of those secretaries that we need right now.

Government handouts are all well and good but goodwill works both ways. Job Retention Scheme payouts should be spent buying British and giving something back.

How many restaurants will have cashed in the Eat Out to Help Out vouchers but then bought meat and fish from abroad?

As an aside, all staff and correspondents at The Yorkshire Post have taken pay cuts to support the publication during these difficult times.

We have the Surbiton spirit, do our readers?

To finish with a smile, the late entertainer Bruce Forsyth even had a little song to support the 1960s Buy British campaign:

I’m backing Britain, yes I’m backing Britain

We’re all backing Britain today

The feeling is growing so let’s keep it going

The good times are blowing our way

Wonder if our Chancellor of the Exchequer can hold a tune? His suits (hope they are British-made) are certainly as smart as Bruce’s.

Sarah Todd is a former editor of Yorkshire Life magazine. She is a farmer’s daughter, mother and journalist specialising in country life.

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