DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s plans for a ‘John Lewis economy’ will not create a more responsible economy but simply increase the gap between those in jobs with high earning power and the multitude who are struggling to cope with the daily escalating prices in the shops.

Recently a well-known celebrity chef was apprehended for shop-lifting (the poor man was probably unwell at the time). Yet a pensioner who is on a limited budget finds daily increases on food that are in effect, daylight robbery, which the shops are never taken to account for.

The price of fresh meat such as beef, lamb and pork is constantly rising, so families have difficulty providing nourishing meals for their children and dependents.

The human brain needs protein when growing in childhood, for best performance in adulthood, and to maintain mental health in the elderly. Poor academic performance at school and college and the increase in dementia in the mid-life and the elderly is aggravated by poor diet.

The Government must stop pandering to the fetish of the vegans and encourage people to eat more fish and meat and bring back strict control of food prices. England’s lush pastures produce the best meat in the world, Stop exporting the best lamb to France and importing their tasteless chickens and we may need the services of the NHS less.

ALBA THORNING (Mrs), York Road, Headington, Oxford