“She’ll be right” attitude taken over by Britons

Press, 22 July 1976, Page 17

“She’ll be right” attitude taken over by Britons

Londoners are quickly finding that soaring temperatures and rocketing prices are synonymous. Outside the Tate Gallery, a cocky young Scot wanted to charge me 81 cents for a small iced can of coke; modest ice creams were selling at 54 cents each.

For something more substantial, a couple of cheese sandwiches in town cost 72 cents. Smallish lettuces were selling in the sweltering heat at 54 cents, and tomatoes at 30 cents a pound. New Zealanders in London can probably sympathise with the American policeman who is returning to the States next month because “I can’t afford to live in Britain.” A Kiwi housewife in London finds that food is more than 30 per cent cheaper in her homeland. A shopping list of 21 commodities costing $13.48 in New Zealand would average out at about $20.34 in London.

Only four of the items — polyunsaturated margarine, eggs, chicken, and oranges — would be cheaper. (A 3|lb frozen chicken here sells for only $1.62).

The biggest price differences are in butter (74 cents a pound in London), cheese (over $1 a pound), milk (15 cents a pint), bacon ($3.27 a pound), potatoes (90 cents for a 51t> bag), ice-cream ($2 tor two litres), yoghurt (27 cents a carton), and cigarettes (81 cents for a packet of 20).

A pound-and-a-half oi rump steak which might cost $1.70 in Auckland is $4.05 in London; a pound of mince (perhaps 48 cents in New Zealand) is 72 cents; and lib of beet sausages would cost about 6/ cents here compared with 38 cents.

Tax, travel, power, and telephone charges are all higher than “down under,” but cars, clothes, and property are cheaper. A twomonth electricity bill costing $16.90 in New Zealand would be about $56 in Britain; a two-mile underground trip is 45 cents, and an ordinary adult return fare to Glasgow (400 miles north) costs $45. Clothes in Britain are still very reasor.„bie, and of infinitely better qualitv than in New z.ealand. but while children’s and women’s wear is much cheaper, shoes and men’s clothes are nearer New Zealand prices. Cars are relatively cheap (a Cortina XL estate with 25,000 miles on the clock costs about $2200), and petrol prices, which are about to rise, are roughly the same. Housing is thought to be marginally cheaper, particularly outside London. Doctors do not charge for surgery visits, although 36 cents is payable for each item on a prescription. Dentists’ fees are heavily subsidised by the State.

It is, of course, unwise to make sweeping generalisations about living costs in Britain because, given the time, it is'not difficult

to cut costs. British Rail, for example, allows a child accompanied by an adult to travel any distance at the week-end for 90 cents; outdoor markets supply many goods at cut price rates: and dinner for two in a good restaurant need cost no more than $lO. including wine. There are compensations in living in London — so many that the cost of living seems almost irrelevant. And, in any case, the high living costs are insignificant alongside what appears to be Britain’s major problem — a “she’ll be right” attitude which used to belong, or so they said, to the Antipodes. The pound might rise another few cents (although, there again, it probably won’t), but if it takes the bank six weeks to open your account, it won’t matter very much. And if the chemist fails to supply a vital drug when he says he will; if important legal letters to landlords disappear into thin air; if it takes three months of shilly-shallying and several lost application forms to provide a health insurance number; if tradesmen and taxi drivers don’t turn up at the appointed time; and if so-called commercial firms don’t even reply to urgent letters, far less acknowledge them, then the politicians in Whitehall should be worrying less about money and more about motivation.