[another down] johnny walker gets his marching orders

Johnny's leaving David Farrer, of Freedom and Whisky, reports the closure of Johnnie Walker. I have to admit to being stunned and dismayed. The details: Last Wednesday the Striding Man lost his confident swagger. Diageo, the world's biggest drinks manufacturer, announced it was closing the plant with the loss of 700 jobs. Quite rightly, David says: But there are deeper issues.For as long as I can remember Scotland has suffered from the departure or downsizing of well-known companies. Up here, we all know the importance of having locally-based employers. If Johnnie Walker had still been locally-owned would it have left Kilmarnock? Probably not. But all those folk who are moaning about profit being put before people are missing the point. Profit is about people. Without profit there won't be any jobs, something hundreds of thousands of "public" sector workers will shortly find out. People, we are in deep s---. Apart from the issues just mentioned, there is the long, slow demise in Britain of all it once stood for. Icons cannot be allowed to disappear like this and it's not a quick fix I'm referring to but a whole infrastructure change. We are in deep s---.