Over the last decade we have witnessed the transfer of manufacturing jobs to places like China. This has been carried out in a deliberate and consistent way with huge losses to our once thriving industrial market.
I hear many people say that UK costs were too high and that cheaper goods can only benefit the consumer but I say at what cost?
I listen to others who say that we do not want low skilled manufacturing jobs anyway, when we can provide the innovation, design and technical know how. I have always found this difficult to follow. Its almost like saying to an artist "describe your ideas to a Chinese person and they can go away and produce the painting, this will provide more time to develop more ideas and bring down the costs". Maybe some people will think that this is a satisfactory arrangement, but I don't.
I believe that Manufacturing, Engineering, innovation are all part of the same process. Stripping one part away from the other can not be sustainable.
I foresee the time when the Chinese, Koreans or any others who make our products will soon develop their own innovative ideas, designs and products and without our help. To think that they will always need us for the clever bits is not only arrogant but dangerous.
The countries who lead the world in manufacturing are often the countries with the greatest wealth and influence and we ignore this at our peril.
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