You've got to admire the Labour party's sense of timing. Just as Corus shuts down the plant in Redcar thus ending 150 years of steel production there, the Labour party unveil their election slogans which includes a promise of "future industries".
I'm sure that's going to be a great relief to the newly unemployed steelworkers of Redcar - knowing that some unspecified industry will come along at some unspecified date to provide them with jobs and security. Although, it's funny that there has been nothing to come along before to provide jobs for the considerable number of unemployed already in that area.
Whenever I discuss the decline of British manufacturing, I get people telling me that we will develop "new industries" to take their place. They keep saying it even though there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support these claims - and the same applies to Labour.
What new "future" industries?
And even if these industries exist, what on earth makes anyone think that Britain can be competitive in them - especially given the weakness of our education system compared to the strength of certain developing nations who are churning hundreds of thousands of high calibre graduates equipped with the skills that these future, technology based industries require.
Even if Britain has the brains to develop these industries (debatable), where is the investment going to come from to take the idea into a production facility? And why would they locate this production facility in Britain where costs are high, regulation is tight and bureaucracy is stifling?
This blind faith in non-existent "future" industries is delusional. It's about time the people of Britain understood the real implications of a globalised economy - that either wages in the developing world rise to match those that we earn ...... or ours fall to the level that they earn. I know which is more likely - what do you think?
There isn't an alternative - a global free market doesn't just mean cheap goods. It also means cheap labour - and that includes what you do. Even if you think you're protected, you are not - thanks to immigration nobody is safe from the effects of this phenomenon.
Labour doesn't know what these "future industries" are. Those who support the global free market don't know what these "future" industries are.
I do.
It's called "subsistence farming".
2 comments:
It is a F**king bleak future we face. Labour has, thru plan or incompetance, destroyed what manufacturing we had. The steel plant in Redcar closed for carbon credit which we the UK taxpayer pay into (altho' we had no choice). Cadbury brought and plants shut by a foreign company funded by a loan by RBS (which we own 85% of, again we had no choice in this). Our parliament now a mere rubber stamp for the EU (again no choice given to us) A pox on these bastards. When we are against the wall, when we have nought to lose anymore expect fire and chaos and scores settled.
"What new "future" industries?"
Beats me, to. The only things we seem to be competitive in are 'X Factor' type tv shows and ASBO-gathering...
I can't see either becoming profitable in the future, can you?
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