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Ian / Claire,

The way you both put your points accross is utterly engaging. It's nice to be able to read a point of view that is pragmatic, honest, articulate and not in the least bit sensationalist (which much of the 'death of the high street' content seems to be at the moment.

I think what this release (and both your comments) show is that yet again the people we 'trust' to 'run' our country are so devoid of any grasp on reality that the only way forward is for you to sort it out yourselves... in what seems to be in spite of them. This is what I can't get my head around.

I too thought that the £1 million 'prize' would be for each pilot centre (I refuse to use a celebrity name before the word pilot out of respect for people who are not star-struck by a lady off the telly being involved).

The suggestion by someone in a government position that a 'prize' (don't even get me started on how offensive that particular terminology is!) of just over £83,000 each will sort out 12 UK town centres is one of the most stupid things I have ever read!!! This money probably won't even cover the salaries of the inevitable (and numerous) council officials who will work on the application (never mind it's implementation).

You have to ask yourself whether the government really care about the number of jobs we are lamenting here.

I'm not a gambling man, but if I were, I would stake everything I have on the fact that Willie Wonka (if asked) couldn't tell any of us how much a pint of milk is! And this, sadly, is the problem with this initiative. It's completely out of touch with reality.