Christmas peer pressure - Go steady if your jug is full

BACK when a credit card could achieve more or less anything we celebrated minor events with a gusto and vulgarity that was as mesmerising as it was foolish.

We celebrated minor rites of passage with helicopters and stretch limos; fake tans for eight year olds and marquees at more or less at the drop of a Philip Tracey hat.

These excesses embarrassed as much as they impressed. They caused hurt to those who could not compete in the champagne stakes even when none was intended. We approach that great festival of consumerism we call Christmas when very many people’s circumstances have changed. Those who once thought a day trip to Santa’s factory in Lapland mundane might now be struggling to plan the most basic celebrations.