REACTIONTOOURARTICLEBYTHESECRET
DRUGADDICT(@SCRTDRUGADDICT) ABOUT
ADDICTIONINLOCKDOWN
@sleafordmods
Thisisusefulreadingfrom@ScrtDrugAddictforthe@BigIssue
onthepresentstateofthosewhoarestrugglingwithalcoholandother
substancesduringlockdown.There’salso advice on getting help if you
are fi nding yourself in this situation.
@mistajista
Mostlystrugglingwithavailabilityandpricing,butthenI’vestill
got a long way to go... Good article for those ready to try and deal with it.
@seanjames
Supermarkets not helping with their booze o�fers.@CTWarriorMonkey
Mymateisa doctor,hetreateda manwhowasa heavydrinker
butatleastworkgavehim8 hoursa daywherehecouldn’tdrink–
withoutthat,heturnedhisliverintomush.Hele�tawifeand2 young
kids. If I hadn’t stopped 2 years ago, I’d have been the same.
@fayhoyland
Thanks@ScrtDrugAddictforhighlighting@WeAreWithYou
[email protected]’velaunchedan#Over50sAlcoholHelplinethis
weekfollowingresearchmorethan4mover50sarebingedrinking in
lockdown. Hoping we can help many more people get support!
SCOTLANDTACKLES PERIOD POVERTYEmilyFawcus
ExcellentnewsforScotland.Thefoodbanks and other voluntary
organisations have led the way on this.
MaryFlynn
Greatnewsforwomenyoungandoldasgoingthroughthemenopause
canbebadalso.Irregularbleedsthenweakbladder.Noteveryonecan
a�fordtobuy.Andsomemen have incontinence problems so maybe
help is needed for them.
here’sahospitalinMoscowthathasacuriousway
ofhelpingpeoplerecoverfromCovid.
ThehospitalisanequivalenttoBritain’s
NightingaleHospitals– a requisitionedsiteserving
onlycoronaviruspatients.ThisparticularoneinMoscowhad
beenanicehockeyarena.Thereisa bigscoreboardabovethe
mainarea.So,toentertainthoseinbed,theauthoritiesdecided
tobroadcasttwotypesofthingsonthescoreboard.Theyare
showingclassicRussianmovies.AndMrBeanepisodes.
TheglobalreachofMrBeanneverfailstosurprise.Andwhile
it’snotsomethingthatI’veheardbeingprescribedbytheNHS,
perhapsitshouldn’tberuledout.Thescreeningsshowthat
elsewherethere’salwayssomebodytryingtocomeupwitha
solutiontoa sharedproblem.ObviouslyMr Beanisnotexactly
thePfizervaccine,butstill.
Closertohome,theFrencharealsobeinginventive.Last
weektheypostponedBlackFriday.Theauthoritiessecured
agreementfromglobalonlineshoppinggiantslikeAmazon
tosuspendtheirBlackFridayo�fersforaweek.Thiswasa
calculatedmovetoallowsmallerretailerstohaveafighting
chancetoselltheirwaresduringlockdown.Onthissideofthe
Channelitisclearthatindependentsonthehighstreetare
fightingfortheirlives.Wouldn’ttheyhavebenefittedfroma
similarmove?Oraretheauthoritiesheretooscaredtotakeon
theonlinetitans?
Franceisn’t.They’renowalsogoingtoupthetaxesonglobal
techgiantswho’veprofitedduringthelockdown.Manyofthem
areAmerican,andtheUShasthreatenedreciprocalactionon
Frenchimports.It’snotstoppingtheFrench,though.Perhaps
theyseethatthesabre-rattlingofDonaldTrumpisnowa
deathrattle.Andthatamoreplacatoryandmutuallybeneficial
relationshipcouldbeontheway.
Ormaybetheyseethattheyneedtogetmoneyintohelp
mitigatethehammeringthattheireconomy,likemanynational
economies,hastaken.
Itiscuriousthatthishasn’tbeenatleastbroachedbythe
Chancellor.ItwasclearinhisSpendingReviewhowdesperate
theeconomicsituationisinwhichwefindourselves.This
governmentiskeentosaythattherewillbenoreturnto
austerity.Thatisclearlygood.However,logicsaysthatifthere
arenocutsthenincometotheexchequerwillhavetorise.
Andwhetherit’sspokenopenlyornot,taxesaregoingtohave
togoup.
Followingthislogic,surelythefirstpeopletolooktoare
majororganisationswhocoinitinbutdon’tpaya lotintax.
EarlierthisyearwelearnedthatAmazonmade£13.7bnin
saleslastyearbutpaidonly£293mintax.Thereisspacetodo
somethingbetweenthosefigures!
RishiSunakhashisworkcutout.Heistryingtorebuildan
economythathashada shockunlikeanythingfora century.
Somaybehe’sgoingtogetaroundtothetaxbusinessina
littlewhile.HeonlyhastolookacrosstheChannelfor
inspirationonhowtotakeonthebigboys.Perhapshecould
evenworkinconcertwiththeFrenchsobothservetheir
nation’scitizensbetter.
Goodjobthereisnothing coming along soon that could
jeopardise such a move.TA taxingquestionPaulMcNameeiseditorofTheBig Issue
@pauldmcnamee
[email protected]EDITOR'S LETTER@bigissue@hayleyforrest
Lockdowntipno.18...doyour
bitforcharity.I’vealwaysbought
TheBigIssuewhenoutandabout
&chattedtothevendorssowas
worriedwhenI heardsellingon
thestreetcouldn’thappenduring
lockdown.SohappywhenI saw
viaInstagramthatyoucannow
subscribe,soI did!Twocopies
throughthedoorsofar&justlook
atthisbeautyofa coverstar(sorry
GeorgeClarkebutBobcatbeats
you paws down!) RIP lovely BobTakecareJohn!
PleasecanyouletJohnfromMilngavieknowthatI madea three-month
subscriptionforhim?Andwishhimsafeandwelluntilweseehimagain.
Hegavemeandmyhubbya Christmascardtodaywhenweboughtour
BigIssue.He’ssucha cheerfulpersoninallweatherssoI wasworried
aboutwhathewilldoasScotlandbeganlockdown.But he said to look
himuponthewebsite and buy from him that way.
Carole, emailFROM 30 NOVEMBER 2020 BIGISSUE.COM| 07