PARADISE LOST

HOW COULD WE SNATCH DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY?

Echoing an article in the Daily Mail, I commented on Twitter about Cameron's trip to India. My view is that it was a very expensive and, somewhat futile endeavour to drum up trade with a country which has little or no need to trade with us. Especially as we have no manufacturing industry to warrant such a large trade delegation.
I was called defeatist and stupid for criticising  Cameron for his trips.  After all, is he not selling UK plc to the world? Err, no!UK plc no longer exists it has been destroyed by quick profit Merchant Bankers, Investment Bankers, asset strippers and inept, short sighted political policy. Seven years after the second world war we were crowning a new Monarch and also celebrating the fact that her reign heralded a new era of British prosperity. We had a 25% share of the Worlds manufactured exports and were world leaders in shipbuilding, quality car manufacture, steel and technology.

We now have a just over 2% share of the exported manufactured goods market, a downgraded credit rating, debt on an unimaginable scale and massive unemployment. Add to that uncontrolled immigration a burgeoning Public Sector and an Electorate that is so apathetic it is almost asleep. It is not just the fault of the City that manufacturing in this country has seen such a drastic decline, although uncontrolled stock market speculating has done a lot of damage. I believe the fault lies with politicians, a loss of Pride in our country and fear of a challenge.

New Labour ploughed all its faith into the Financial Services sector believing that globalisation made manufacturing in this country obsolete as other countries had lower labour costs, material cost and transport costs, etc etc. Despite selling our gold reserves at the bottom of the market they foolishly clung on to the notion that a balance of payments no longer mattered and that sterling would thrive despite massive trade deficits. Well, events this week have dispelled that theory and left the Chancellor with egg on his face. George Osborne aside, Labour's belief that they could borrow their way out of economic turmoil nearly bankrupt the country and cost them the last Election. You would think that the Coalition would have learned from that but, no. They are stumbling along the same path, tripping over the same financial hurdles.

Do you remember these?

• Austin
• Morris
• Triumph
• Standard
• BSA
• Norton
• Velocette
• Hillman
• Leyland
• Bedford
• Slazenger
• Cortaulds
• HP

The first ten are no longer with us. Cars, truck and motor cycle manufacturers that were once World beaters with full export books, full production and a plethora of skilled workers. I remember doing contract work at Slazenger in the late 1990's at their tennis ball plant in Barnsley. Manufacture has now moved to the Philippines. I mention this to emphasise that it is not just the workforce who suffer when a company moves out of the country or ceases trading, there are a host of ancillary trades who also suffer. The same is true of Cortaulds and HP, my company carried out contract work at both.

Labour duped the Electorate by creating thousands of non-jobs in the Public Sector whilst the Coalition has done the same through the Private Sector. However, the politicians must not share all of the blame for the demise of manufacturing in Britain. As the Mail article states, mistakes in the boardroom and the shop floor, especially from bullish Unions whose call for strikes gave British manufacturing a bad name Worldwide, also contributed but by far the biggest contribution came from the Civil Service. The "we know best" attitude that caused the demise of the Empire filtered through from Whitehall to the factory floor. It is not just the jobs that go, it is the expertise as well. Not for nothing did the Press describe the exodus of talent from our shores as the "Brain Drain" during Harold Wilson's Stint at No 10 during the late 60's /early seventies. His policy of over taxing the rich not only drove people away from Britain it also closed manufacturing factories because, invariably, they took their businesses with them.

So, back to my main point; I am very proud of my country, I served in the Armed Forces for ten years to help protect it. The last forty years have seen our industry die a horrible death, (made worse by countries which we either defeated in war or, which were once part of our mighty Empire) at the hands of Foreign competition. We did little to stop this happening, deciding instead to rely on the EU to drag us along with the arrogant belief that Britain is still a main player on the World stage. This is not defeatism it is realism and until our elected elite realise this we are going to go further down the slippery slope to ignominy. I don't doubt Cameron's patriotism but I do think he is short sighted and stubborn to the point of stupidity. We have a golden opportunity to rebuild manufacturing in this country, to do so needs investment, lots of it. Instead of sending money abroad in aid - India springs to mind - put it to good use at home. We need it to survive! Your entourage of architects, insurers, bankers, and other non trades would be better served building Britain in Britain rather than trying to flog a dead horse on foreign shores Mr Cameron.