Well after two years of covid restricted life, lockdowns, companies going bust, more people estimated to be at risk than actually happened etc. the country was in no mood for another set of regimented issues.   This year when the holiday season started, slightly earlier in February, many families just went berserk with their spending.  they couldn’t care less about paying off that credit card or making sure there was enough funding for running their normal life schedules.  I’ve never seen so many families going so single mindedly down the route of gimme gimme gimme.  We did experience some truly dreadful and self centred panic buying of commodities such as toilet rolls and other essentials.  I was particularly horrified that it was most young fathers and say 20-40 years seriously into overdrive with trying to stock up for some imaginary siege.  There was very little need for this behaviour, nut it showed what would happen in any national crises.  Dog eat dog is very obviously how they were dragged up.