A quick thread on food. Some people have been upset by something I tweeted about 70s food. Don’t get me wrong, there was excellent food in the 70s - I ate very well all through my childhood, great cooks in my family and lots of fine ingredients. Roast dinners remain a marvel 1/n

...and we ate out well too, from time to time. Good chip shops. One good Chinese restaurant in Cambridge, a few good Italians we went to in London (e.g. Marine Ices in Chalk Farm). Even the junk wasn’t bad - I like Angel Delight even now. 2/n

...but, and this is a big but, one of the most profound changes in England in the time since my childhood has been the transformation in the general attitude to food. We’re a nation of foodies now - see Masterchef and all the other food programmes around. 3/n

We have vastly better restaurants *in general*. We have more cuisines at our fingertips. Pubs with good Thai food. All kinds of cuisines and of a good quality everywhere. Excellent delis with great ingredients and other products from all over the world. 4/n

And far more people cook far better at home than was even conceivable back in the 70s. We should not deny that or pretend that it hasn’t happened. AND a great deal of that change has been driven by our opening up in attitude and in fact to the rest of the world. 6/n

(Yes, I’ve got number wrong) But the EU is a big part of that too, in lots of ways. Opening up of trade. More people from more places. Exposure to better stuff. Let’s not pretend otherwise - and not go backwards!! /end