FOOD SUBSIDIES
Sm,—The Spectator is so insistent On the ending of food subsidies that I wonder if my experience, which must be typical of thousands of others, will be of interest to you. My father was a Lancashire cotton operative, more often out of work than in, and, as I was the eldest of six children, we were very poor in those days. My parents, however, determined that we should all have a decent chance in life ; so I was given the opportunity of going to the local grammar school. I can well remember how proud they both were, first when I won a scholarship, then when I got my matric, and proudest of all when I passed the entrance exam for the Civil Service. Now, they assured me, I had a "vocation." I would never be out of work, never have to pinch and scrape as they had always had to. They had made their sacrifices for me, but the result was well worth while. Or was it ? I am now a clerical officer in the Civil Service ; my salary is £320 per annual, and I have a wife and two small children. With the cost of living as it is at present it seems hopeless to keep on struggling. My wife says that if food subsidies are removed she will give up in despair. It certainly makes one wonder if parental sacrifices are worth while. I have long since given over smoking, but even in the worst of the depression my father managed his two ounces of twist per week. We hear a lot about incentives. I'm sure that I couldn't try any harder than I do, but of course it doesn't mean any extra money. We also hear a lot about tightening of belts, and so on, but I cannot help thinking that the persons who glibly advocate this austerity have never known what it
is to go really short.—I am, yours respectfully, LANCASTRIAN.
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