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Wednesday's letters page of the Daily Telegraph features one submission which appears to have lost all perspective entirely.
A reader from Birmingham writes:
Sir - My wife's golf club subscription has just increased by over 6 per cent from last year's figure. The club's explanatory letter mentions the new living wage, saying: 'This will have a serious impact on our overheads due to the number of staff we employ on this wage, but also in maintaining the differential for those staff who are paid more than the minimum.'
My wife is hardly looking for sympathy; if she couldn't afford the subscription, she wouldn't remain a member of her club. However, if the club's approach is mirrored across all businesses, then the Chancellor has put us on a very slippery slope indeed.
To prove that, yes, this is genuine, here's the letters page from Wednesday's Daily Telegraph.
Because golf, a game played and funded predominately by very small portion of the country who can afford the clubs and the course fees and attire, played on expansive grounds which require constant upkeep, is clearly indicative of every business model in the UK.
It's clearly an essential service, never mind that it is well documented that the popularity of the game has been dwindling for years, especially among the younger generation - it's clearly the fault of the rising minimum wage!
What if you can't get a caddie next time you play? You'd have to -gasp- pick your own shots too!
Don't these plebs know that Mrs Reader is rethinking her hobby choices?
What are you thinking Mr Osborne?! Dear God, will someone think of Mrs Reader's short game?!
We've taken the liberty of producing an artists' impression of the reader's vision of a utopian United Kingdom in 2025.
In all seriousness, the National Living Wage obviously has financial implications for businesses (which is why they have been given plenty of warning), which are worth discussing.
However, the suggestion that paying people a living salary is the wrong thing to do is staggering, as is citing golf club membership as the reason to be concerned.
Don't think of the NHS, currently on its knees (again), or our schools, or our local councils, or public transport, or food banks, or care homes, or the elderly, or the emergency services.
When the golf courses fall, that's when we're in trouble.
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