Simply put the Salami Theory is a metaphor for the way most governments, multinationals, supermarkets, some manufacturers and the majority of state or local council organisations slyly attempt to reduce costs and squeeze out excessive profit by reducing quantity or quality with little regard for the longer term good of the business, society or indeed the planet. A simple and innocuous example may be found in a product like masking tape, where by reducing the quantity of adhesive the manufacturer can increase the profitability of the company – however if this process is repeated year on year the product ceases to work adequately and is no longer purchased (or the salami is sliced until it no longer exists). More recently we have seen Toblerone maintain the package size and price of its iconic airport gift bar, having first removed a number of its chocolate triangles; to the chagrin of visitors who failed to remember (or couldn’t be bothered) to bring presents for waiting friends and family at the arrival terminal. Unfortunately the theory may be applied equally to the destruction of our planet – the nibbling away of the rainforest that at first was unnoticed, the pollution of our atmosphere that now appears to be uncontrollable, or at a more personal level, the post code or ageist lottery that seems to pervade the NHS.