http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/busin ... 99820.html

Isn't it sad that he's probably a better indicator of the economy than the official statements and figures?

Not really, M&S haven't exactly been the most stable company in recent years - they're a bit like Madonna - constantly trying to reinvent itself to stay afloat, whilst appealing mainly to the older generation!

I know what you mean but he still appears to be more honest about the whole situation than our chancellor

I worked for them when it all kicked off about 10 years ago. The feeling among everyone was that the media were trying to get everyone to believe it was a case of the Emperor's new clothes; that M&S appeared to be successful on the surface, but that nobody had noticed that there was no substance.

As a matter of fact, there was substance. Internally, everything was fine and our store was making money. It was only when the story had broken that sales seemed to go south. We had the same old "grey pound" flowing through the tills, but the notoriously fickle <40's cash dried up. The store was losing money on ladies clothes, but staying the same or improving on mensware and food.

I could also go into the ranting idiots we used to get; Daily Mail readers who were also shareholders....screaming into our faces that how dare we let this happen; we, the shopfloor staff, were to blame. We were also to blame for the lack of fresh bread and milk at 2 minutes to closing time. Also to blame for the lack of dress sizes above 26. Also to blame for only stocking 25 different varieties of sandwiches for lunch.

I left M&S much wiser, realising that most companies are actually very consciencious and want to do right by everyone. And alos left vowing that I would never work with idiots such as the general public again. I still realise I was right when I read stories about "paediatricians" being beaten up by Sun reading mobs, and stories about parents blaming petting zoos when their kiddiwinks catch E Coli after stroking a pygmy goat without washing their hands....

My mum used to work for M&S. She hated it and left because there were apparently too many chiefs and not enough indians.

That one really got my goat too.

"My baby ate goat poop and got sick. It's your fault for not ensuring the poop was clean enough!"

FFS. Do wash your hands before you eat. Don't eat sh!t, and don't die. I'm pretty sure my mummy taught me that before I ever went to the zoo and didn't die.

Bad hygiene is when the animals are being turned into sandwiches, and the sh!t ends up in someones lunch. Stupidity is when someone just eats the damned sh!t right there in the farm off the ground with their muddy little fingers.

That said, maybe the animals should be fed huge quantities of arsenic every day to kill off any germs. That would be a good compromise. Not.

Anyone want to go pet some cute fluffy animals? I'm sure they'd let us in if we promised to wash our hands and sign a disclaimer!

I'm so sick of this stupid country now If Al Qaeda stood at the next general election, I'd vote for them, it couldn't be any worse than it is now. F u c k it, let's have a revolution. By the way if I'm denounced by the authorities as a paedophile and a terrorist it's not true, I've just been watching a lot of Frankie Boyle.