Getting The UK Economy back on track

[Deleted member 18588]

I agree with your thoughts to a point, but the Government needs to start to talk about "buying British", and make the narrative to build here, employ here and create a steady jobs, products and supply market. If Trump can get elected on his promise to repatriate jobs and making "America great again" they why cant the British Government see that a country that can self sustain itself in times of good AND bad is a message thats needed to be put out there. The country voted to stand on it's own. That and the obvious lack of essential equipment needed in the current crisis shows we need to think differently about where we buy stuff, where it comes from, where it's made and what the real costs are. We cant stand on our own if we rely on imports. We need to reverse that thinking and trend.

But Trump is failing to deliver on those promises and we have had "Buy British" campaigns in the past.
Lots of noise but look around you and you will see just how successful they were.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

But Trump is failing to deliver on those promises and we have had "Buy British" campaigns in the past.
Lots of noise but look around you and you will see just how successful they were.

We have had those campaingns in the past, but the country is now in a different situation. A large ship takes a lot to start it moving, but once moving is easy to keep going. We are that large ship right now.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

That is what happens to a country that embraces a 'devil take the hindmost/cheapest possible price from wherever' race to the bottom society.
What happens when we hit bottom.
I think we are about to find out.

 

[Kellfire]

I agree with your thoughts to a point, but the Government needs to start to talk about "buying British", and make the narrative to build here, employ here and create a steady jobs, products and supply market. If Trump can get elected on his promise to repatriate jobs and making "America great again" they why cant the British Government see that a country that can self sustain itself in times of good AND bad is a message thats needed to be put out there. The country voted to stand on it's own. That and the obvious lack of essential equipment needed in the current crisis shows we need to think differently about where we buy stuff, where it comes from, where it's made and what the real costs are. We cant stand on our own if we rely on imports. We need to reverse that thinking and trend.

Ok so let’s stop imports. Now where do we stand with regards to raw materials? Aww man.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Ok so let’s stop imports. Now where do we stand with regards to raw materials? Aww man.

So give up now then......

 

[Lord Tyrion]

We have had those campaingns in the past, but the country is now in a different situation. A large ship takes a lot to start it moving, but once moving is easy to keep going. We are that large ship right now.

Surely the starting point is govt procurement, that is within control. The NHS for example could start to buy products from UK manufacturers if they existed. They don't right now because they can't compete with the Far East but if the govt changed how they bought then that would change. It will cost but at least it would make us less reliant on key items. This could not apply to all products, technical eqt is a tricky one for example, but on basics such as ppe and other matters it is simple enough.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Surely the starting point is govt procurement, that is within control. The NHS for example could start to buy products from UK manufacturers if they existed. They don't right now because they can't compete with the Far East but if the govt changed how they bought then that would change. It will cost but at least it would make us less reliant on key items. This could not apply to all products, technical eqt is a tricky one for example, but on basics such as ppe and other matters it is simple enough.

Totally.
It wont take much for manufacturing to return if the Gov't and NHS said we want it made in Britain or we won't buy it. I bet we are paying through the nose right now for all the extra stuff we are scrabbling to import.

 

[Kellfire]

So give up now then......

I have an idea - how about we join some sort of European wide body that allows us to trade for resources easily and collaboratively?

 

[Deleted member 18588]

I have an idea - how about we join some sort of European wide body that allows us to trade for resources easily and collaboratively?

Yes.

We import lots of goods from them and export lots less to the..

That should help our dwindling manufacturing sector.

 

[Kellfire]

Yes.

We import lots of goods from them and export lots less to the..

That should help our dwindling manufacturing sector.

Maybe we don’t need a manufacturing sector?

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I have an idea - how about we join some sort of European wide body that allows us to trade for resources easily and collaboratively?

And how does that comment help?

 

[Kellfire]

And how does that comment help?

I’m sorry - I missed where any of your comments are having/will have a positive impact on the nation’s economy.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

Maybe we don’t need a manufacturing sector?

We are already largely a service based economy so your original suggestion seems even less relevant.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Totally.
It wont take much for manufacturing to return if the Gov't and NHS said we want it made in Britain or we won't buy it. I bet we are paying through the nose right now for all the extra stuff we are scrabbling to import.

For starters we are air freighting everything across when in the past it would have been sea freight. Having had to do that recently I know the painful difference. The horrible phrase 'supply and demand' raises its ugly head as well as prices increase. If you control your own mfr then there is no such impact. After all, if costs have not increased, neither should pricing.

It was only the last few years that the Remploy scheme and factories were closed. How about restarting that to produce PPE going forward for the NHS? It is not the solution for this week or next but next year or the year after, why not?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Maybe we don’t need a manufacturing sector?

How is that working out right now? If you don't have one then you become horribly exposed in times of trouble.

Incidentally, we do still have a manufacturing sector, it is just vastly reduced from what it once was.

 

[harpo_72]

Totally.
It wont take much for manufacturing to return if the Gov't and NHS said we want it made in Britain or we won't buy it. I bet we are paying through the nose right now for all the extra stuff we are scrabbling to import.

Possibly not, if you have a closed market the cost just escalates up. Take car insurance there is no physical competition you might see minor fluctuations but in the end you won’t see major savings because we are all legally obliged to have it. If we were not then costs would drop through the floor .. might not be a great place to be but it would be a proper competitive market.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Possibly not, if you have a closed market the cost just escalates up. Take car insurance there is no physical competition you might see minor fluctuations but in the end you won’t see major savings because we are all legally obliged to have it. If we were not then costs would drop through the floor .. might not be a great place to be but it would be a proper competitive market.

TBH I dont really think there is such a thing as a truly competitive market at the top end, only in words to the end user/consumer and then it's mainly smoke and mirrors.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

How is that working out right now? If you don't have one then you become horribly exposed in times of trouble.

Incidentally, we do still have a manufacturing sector, it is just vastly reduced from what it once was.

And now is the time we revisited that area of the economy and rewarded production from this country, and penalised production that isn't.

 

[SocketRocket]

For starters we are air freighting everything across when in the past it would have been sea freight. Having had to do that recently I know the painful difference. The horrible phrase 'supply and demand' raises its ugly head as well as prices increase. If you control your own mfr then there is no such impact. After all, if costs have not increased, neither should pricing.

It was only the last few years that the Remploy scheme and factories were closed. How about restarting that to produce PPE going forward for the NHS? It is not the solution for this week or next but next year or the year after, why not?

Great idea. Remploy brought work for many disabled people so they could earn a living without having to rely on benefits.

 

[SocketRocket]

You could be right but, personally, I very much doubt it.

For many, many years now the consumer has been shown to have a very short memory.

And, in any event, the difference in cost is unlikely to be small.

Another poster cited socks as an example and suggested a difference of 100% in the price. I can assure him from the experience of clients that the gap would be significantly more.

Imagine that sort of gap on higher value items.

For instance how many drivers do you think Callaway would sell if RRP was £700 rather than £450 and, say, Taylormade continued to source from China and their RRP remained at the lower price.

If Callaway tried to sell drivers at £700 they would go broke, golf equipment already has a massive mark up in retail price, that's a not a good example. What you have to consider is that when products are made in the UK it creates jobs, those people pay tax and national insurance rather than having their money propped up by taxation. Take a look at the German ecconomey, almost every town and village has manufacturing companies, German people prefer to buy German made products as they are good quality and boost the ecconomy, Japan is similar so theres no reason for us to be different.