Look at the Poundland scandal and see a crisis that goes beyond Britain’s high streets | Polly Toynbee

‘I look out for my team,’ a store manager tells me, but Poundland’s US owner doesn’t care. Labour may be too late to prevent it becoming yet another casualty of venture capital In the Poundland I visit, a treasure trove of bargains, the staff are dejected. The shelves are emptying because the owners have withheld £50m needed for new stock and paying wages. It’s just one of 600 stores in peril, and these employees just a few of 12,000 at risk of losing their jobs – with 30,000 jobs at risk in