Hah. Lies,damn lies and statistics (massaged by ministers) !!

k rogers, bury st edmunds,

Peter Jones has played for the good times.....low stock..high end..ignorant staff..expensive asscessories...how those MBA colleges churned that management out! Well its over....back to basics if you know anyone who knows what that is.....I know! Employ some Indian MBA's brought up in Mombai!

Stephen Morris, London, UK

i've always found their electricals home delivery service to be very reliable. Lets hope sales improve so my brother can keep his job.

john, watford, england

To S Brant - the JL tv will include a 5 yr parts and labour guarentee - add in the price the other stores will charge you for that then see who's cheapest. But yes, maybe the down market stores will do better, the tills in the local Primark are red hot.

Alan Lucas, Bromley, Kent

John Lewis have tried to attract a younger shopper, but the good solid middle-aged and middle class feel left out with that range of goods. We are the ones with the money though

Pam, Nottingham,

They can't release the "real" dreadful figures, it will become self fulfilling!

smlaing, bucks, uk

Why, are MPs now shopping in Harrods?

mnairb, Hove, U.K.

John Lewis seeing a 14% decline seems about right although indicates they are doing relatively badly. Based on loss of spending from mortgage equity withdrawal alone, you'd expect to see retail spending just 5% down in absolute terms. ONS figures are very questionable.

Michael, West Midlands,

If any tax cuts come my way, it will be staying in my pocket as much as possible. The whole spend now save later mantra is what got us here in the first place and having been prudent so far have no intention of following the words of any cash rich ministers or other vested interests.

spencer, london, uk

If John Lewis is suffering, it's not because people don't want to shop there- we went last saturday and had to wait 40mins for a parking space! The place was crawling with people, but the checkouts were hard to find and a lot of their goods were cheaper on the high street. Nice towels though...

Ruth, slough,

John Lewis/Waitrose - Bellwether - its laughable. If you see a TV for £1200 in JL I'm sure you could get it for about £900 either online or in other well known high st electrical stores. Along with M&S they have positioned themselves at the wrong end of the market for a downturn

S Brant, Purley, UK

ONS = brOwNS figures.

john rigby, kenilworth, england

We just have to question the ONS figures yet again.
They must have errors in the seasonal adjustment stats or, are they being influenced by ministers wanting to put a better slant on the real state of the economy?

A.M. Williams, Stafford,