Thread: Buy British from Bombardier and not from Siemens in Germany

Precisely right. And that is why the government has to intervene because the failure to do so over the last 30 years is what has led to the decline in the numbers of people employed in manufacturing and related industries and to the big increase in the numbers on welfare.

Originally Posted by angelman

That may be so, but it doesn't concern Southern who placed the order.

Originally Posted by CB100

Not when you factor in the cost of welfare benefits to those made unemployed and the loss of corporation tax and paye paid over to the government...

CB100

Other costs to consider
Cost of paying unemployment benefit maybe for ever to an unwanted British work force, loss of apprenticeships, loss of manufacturing capacity for the future, individual skills lost to the industry, effect on the Balance of Payments, cost of increasing the National Debt of pay for imports, future cost of buying all future train carriages from Germany, loss of jobs in the supply chain to Bambardier, loss of demand in local shops, loss of demand in the local economy around the Bambardier factory, loss of income tax, loss of locally paid VAT, loss of corporation tax paid by Bombardier, the devastating mental effect of long term mass unemployment on the British people, the fact that when a factory closes it will probably never open again and all those skills will be lost forever.

Originally Posted by angelman

That may be so, but it doesn't concern Southern who placed the order.

angelman

Britain is in a trade war with the Germans, but David Cameron and the Conservative Party are on the side of the Germans, and are against both the British working class and British industry.

Don't you think the tax payer is even more fed up with funding incompetence and inefficiency whether in the private or public sector?

The problem is deciding where to pin the blame...

Originally Posted by Patman Post

Don't you think the tax payer is even more fed up with funding incompetence and inefficiency whether in the private or public sector?

The problem is deciding where to pin the blame...

Patman Post

The blame lies with the various British governments that we have had since 1972. All governments since 1972 have watched British manufacturing decline and done nothing about it.

Labour and Conservative governments have all put their hopes in financial services to fill the gap left when manufactuing left Britain for Asia. The weakness of this policy appeared in 2008, when a world banking crisis hit the financial services sector.

This piece from The Economist encapsulates my feelings:

Unlike France and some other European countries, Britain has been pretty consistent in not offering preference to its own. And despite the train industry’s historic importance, it is not likely to be a great source of Britain’s wealth in the future. Britain’s most important message should be that it’s open for business—and that its trains run on time, whoever they’re made by.
Rail procurement: Rolling on and on | The Economist

Originally Posted by CB100

Precisely right. And that is why the government has to intervene because the failure to do so over the last 30 years is what has led to the decline in the numbers of people employed in manufacturing and related industries and to the big increase in the numbers on welfare.

CB100

February 2012 news has just been released that a huge order for Royal Navy ships has gone to South Korea.

The order was for 4 Royal Navy ships and the contract was worth £452 million pounds. British companies bid for the contract but David Cameron chose South Korea to make the ships.

This is yet further evidence that the British government does not support British industry. This massive manufacturing contract could have created tens of thousands of permanent, well paid jobs here in Britain.