WOKINGHAM MP Sir John Redwood has thanked supermarkets for rationing the number of items that customers can buy and called on his readers to “behave responsibly”, calling on those who have bought more than usual to “make amends” by not going back for more.
Writing in his blog, the veteran Conservative who was re-elected last December, said that he had visited Wokingham today (Thursday, March 19) and found the situation in the supermarkets to be “orderly” as a result of limiting customers’ purchases.
He said: “This week there have been too many empty shelves in supermarkets. There is no problem with the food supply. Some people have decided to buy large stocks for no particularly good reason, leaving little or no choice of product for those who arrive later.
“Today when I visited in Wokingham it was more orderly, thanks to supermarket decisions to limit purchases to 2 or 3 only of each item. This simple piece of rationing has helped and could always be toughened further if people still persist with excess purchases.”
Sir John also felt that with more people self-isolating due to the coronavirus, there were fewer people eating meals in work canteens, restaurants and fast food outlets. More meals at home would see people needing to buy more food: “This does not of itself stress the food supply, but it does require reorientation of the deliveries from the suppliers to restaurants to the supermarkets”.
And he called for people to think of others when shopping, echoing calls from others earlier the week, which caused supermarkets to launch special shopping hours for older and vulnerable customers.
“I would ask people to behave responsibly, with thought for others who also need to buy their daily food,” Sir John said.
“Those who did buy too much for stock can make amends. They should now spend the next week or two living off the stocks they bought up instead of going back for more.
“It would be unforgivable if they let the food … go to waste as it went out of date, or because they, on reflection, decide they don’t like rice, or pasta, or whatever, that much after all.”
