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Sir Norman Wrassle |
"I was pleased that Mr Hammond was much more cautious in his own pronouncement that austerity is "nearly over". That "nearly" hides a multitude of sins - we've been "nearly" turning the corner with tripe sales for as long as I've been chairman of the TMB," Sir Norman said.
He went on to say that the tripe industry had benefited hugely from the government's commitment to austerity as the public were forced to consider buying cheaper cuts of meat, such as tripe, to help their meagre incomes go further. "Mr Hammond's statement offers us a lifeline. Austerity is not over yet, and we've had great success in slowing the rate of decline in tripe sales to almost zero. There's still a chance that by the end of the year tripe sales can actually increase for the first time since 1956," he said.
Sir Norman also gave an update on World Tripe Day 2018, which saw celebrations all around the globe from Chorley to Canberra. "This year, we were flying the flag for British tripe in Sofia and I am pleased to say there was a lot of interest in our product," he said. Sir Norman said he would be giving a fuller report to TMB board members in due course.