Thursday 16 July 2009

Sow And Ye Shall Reap


Alex Salmond, please tell us that you're having a bit of a giggle here.

Alex Salmond to join demonstration against Diageo cuts

Mr Salmond visited Kilmarnock to meet campaigners protesting the closure of the town's Johnnie Walker bottling plant, which will account for 700 of the job losses.

A further 200 will go from the closure of the Port Dundas grain distillery in Glasgow

During his visit, the First Minister signed a petition against the closures and pledged to join a protest march being organised by the local council for later this month.

See, the problem, Salmond, is that Diageo are suffering from a squeeze in the market and are doing as any responsible company would do. They are scaling back.

In an ideal world, they wouldn't have to do so, but then, in an ideal world they wouldn't be faced with a dim-witted set of myopic fools like the SNP.

May I quote from your 2007 manifesto [pdf], Mr Sweaty-cock-in-chief?

Irresponsible drinking poses major health risks for individuals and demands effective action from government. An SNP government will do more to address public concerns about licensing laws and the advertising, availability and affordability of alcohol.

SNP justice policy will ensure a tough clampdown on irresponsible drinks promotions and underage drinking, including action to stop the deep discounting of alcohol in shops and supermarkets.

This may seem a strange concept to you, Salmond, but if I understand basic rules of economics correctly, attacking the affordability of alcohol, at which your lot have excelled spectacularly, would tend to result in less people buying it.

If less people buy it, profitability reduces and companies are forced to make cuts in their overhead. One of the major overheads any company faces is staff costs.

Your administration has spent a vast amount of time and money trying to stop people buying alcohol, then when a company which sells alcohol announces it is having to cut costs, you cry foul?

Good grief man. Either stop juggling the health lobby's testicles on your chin or accept the inevitable. You can't have it both ways.

Tool.




6 comments:

Curmudgeon said...

Indeed, Dick. It is a case of the bleeding obvious that seems to have escaped many commentators that, if you mount a concerted attack on the drinks trade, drinks plants will close.

Likewise NuLabour can hardly complain about car plants closing if they keep banging on about "modal shift" and telling us cars are killing the planet.

banned said...

My immediate thoughts on hearing that it was a Johny Walker plant closing was that exports must be badly down ( probably over a few years ) as I belive that most of it goes overseas.
Don't like it myself prerring a Talisker or Laphroaig.

Anonymous said...

No logic to this post at all.

Salmond wants to stop people drinking alcohol.

Salmond wants the manufacturers of alcohol to stay in business.

Clearly, What Alex wants is for everyone to buy whisky but not to drink it.

What could be more straightforward?

wv: cress, which is all we'll be able to consume if the fucking health nazis are not stopped before a week next Thursday.

RantinRab said...

Whilst I agree that Fat Eck is basically a cunt, Diageo profits are not suffering. What we are witnessing is corporatism raging out of control.

Read my post -

http://tinyurl.com/mmrvq9

Also, Diageo submitted a planning application back in April, (2 months before the closure announcement), to build luxury flats on the site. The SNP controlled East Ayrshire council did not put two and two together.

RantinRab said...

Oh, and another thing, the site is hiring temporary workers due to soaring orders!

banned said...

Rab, there used to be a company called 3M, they made Scotch tape and other boring Paper Based Adhesive Products. One day they discovered that they were making more money buying and selling their own buildings so they stopped manufacturing stuff and turned into a property developer instead ( something like that ).