GLOBALISATION
Peter Lucas (Your View 9.4.05) bemoans the fact that British manufacturing is moving to the Far East, and wants Britain to become self sufficient, and of course, it is all Blair's fault. Peter's heart is in the right place, but I wonder just how many of his possessions and clothes have been made in this country. Would he be willing to buy a DVD player, shirt, or vacuum cleaner made in Britain at double the price of one made in China or India?
Globalisation is a fact of life, and manufacturing has been declining in this country for many years, never faster than under Thatcher, and is unstoppable. As it is, industry complains of acute skill shortages in this country, witness Polish dentists, Phillipino nurses, and even Stagecoach is forced to recruit bus drivers in Estonia.
Take Rover Cars for example, a British basketcase. Governments of all shades have tried time and again to rescue that company from disaster. While they have swallowed up money from the taxpayer for generations, foreign owned car manufacture in this country has almost doubled in 8 years from 960.00 cars a year to 1.6 million. If they can do it, why cannot British managemnt do the same?Instead, the asset strippers, who were given the comany for £10 have raided the pension fund, taken millions out of the company for themselves, and bled the comany dry. You get what you deserve.
Dave Cathy
