OUT TO LUNCH
In the mid 1970’s I was living in London in the fashionable postal district of SW3. Britain was suffering under the yoke of an inept Labour government which had followed hot on the heels of an equally inept Conservative government where prime minister Edward Heath had decreed a three day week at one point to preserve the country’s power supply in the wake of continuous strike action by the miners.
Since solar panels had yet to become a commercial reality this meant very long periods spent in darkness for most people.
Britain at the time was in a deep recession and in 1976, under the Labour government, the country had to approach the International Monetary Fund for a $4 billion dollar bailout. This inevitably came with a set of conditions, most of which involved massive public sector spending cuts. ___STEADY_PAYWALL___
Inflation at the time was running well above 20% and companies were advised to only give cost of living rises when increasing an employee's salary. This led to me getting a 25% pay rise in 1976 which didn’t displease me at all. In fact, none of the financial mess the country was in upset me in the slightest, even though I was working in the financial markets as a lowly deal booking clerk at the time.
On what I was earning I could easily afford a shared flat in fashionable Chelsea just off the King’s Road. I didn’t need a car living in London so most of my non rental discretionary spending went on food, drink, women and entertainment but not always in that order. At the time my monthly rental cost £30 which went up to £33 when our lease came to an end and I moved to even more fashionable SW1 in a very handsome block of flats next to Westminster Cathedral.