Helping UK jobs and economy - Buy British?

[Fab Foodie]

When I were a lad, I seem to recall there was a 'Buy British'/ 'I'm backing Britain type campaign(s). I've no idea whether they achieved anything and right now can't be arsed to google to find out right now. But do we think that a campaign now to buy British goods where there's a goood choice would safeguard any jobs?
I know that when I'm in the market for a strike fighter I'm going to buy a Tornado ....

 

[Yellow Fang]

The Panavia Tornado is only part British. It was developed by the British, the Germans, and the Italians. I doubt it would have made it any cheaper, but at least it made it less likely to get scrapped before going into production, like the TSR2.

I seem to remember a Buy British campaign or sentiment when I was a boy, mainly by the unions I think. It was a bit of a cheek. Why should you be made to feel unpatriotic for not buying a rubbish British Leyland Allegro when as tax payers we were already subsidizing the workers' jobs, especially when they were on strike most the time.

 

[MacB]

I seem to remember a Buy British campaign or sentiment when I was a boy, mainly by the unions I think. It was a bit of a cheek. Why should you be made to feel unpatriotic for not buying a rubbish British Leyland Allegro when as tax payers we were already subsidizing the workers' jobs, especially when they were on strike most the time.

The problem with this sort of populist soundbite type view is that it only ever gives a snapshot of a position at a given time and from a given angle. It totally fails to encompass how that position was reached, alternate angles and the scope of fallout from various choices. There are a lot of assumptions associated with these little soundbites and they have almost achieved 'urban legend' status. You know, we say them and we tell the tales but we have no direct experience of them, or our anecdotal experience is so limited as to be statistically worthless. If you consider the two ends of the spectrum - a totally free(or at least for capital) global marketplace - a highly protected localised marketplace - neither is particularly appealing, and for the same reasons, they both stifle choice, innovation and freedom.

Too often, it seems to me, we are given either/or type options, red or blue, right or left, global or national, communism or capitalism, etc, etc. It feels a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, these are broad based choices that then try to shoehorn reality into an ideology, rather than working with what we have and planning for the future. By future I don't mean the next vote. We have some fantastic tools and ideas from all over the spectrum but, as soon as we make that top level choice, suddenly we have all this garbage that comes along with that choice, all the shoot ideas that wouldn't get anywhere on their own merits.

 

[Fab Foodie]

The Panavia Tornado is only part British. It was developed by the British, the Germans, and the Italians. I doubt it would have made it any cheaper, but at least it made it less likely to get scrapped before going into production, like the TSR2.

I seem to remember a Buy British campaign or sentiment when I was a boy, mainly by the unions I think. It was a bit of a cheek. Why should you be made to feel unpatriotic for not buying a rubbish British Leyland Allegro when as tax payers we were already subsidizing the workers' jobs, especially when they were on strike most the time.

God I'm tired this morning, hard start to the week ... I meant buy a Typhoon to save those BAE jobs!

My memory is much like yours regarding the period and politics at the time of the campaign.

But what about now? Is there enough good stuff made here to make British products and jobs worth supporting? Could we make a difference through our purchasing choices?

Judging by the response rate here, there's little interest!

 

[dan_bo]

I think, to make a start, try and stop buying things off the internet. Go on, give it a try. See how long you last.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I think, to make a start, try and stop buying things off the internet. Go on, give it a try. See how long you last.

I got a book from Amazon on how best to do that.

I do my best to support British brewers!

 

[mac1]

But what about now? Is there enough good stuff made here to make British products and jobs worth supporting? Could we make a difference through our purchasing choices?

Probably not wrt mass produced consumer goods - it requires such huge amounts of investment over the long term to enter the market and be competitive that people in this country just aren't interested. There aren't many like John Bloor who put their money where their mouth is with £200m or James Dyson...
.
We're doing rather well in other areas, I understand- number one in marine propulsion, 2nd in Aviation propulsion and we're rather good at ITC - information technology communications (I think). In fact the aerospace/technology sector realistically expects 10% growth over the next 2-3 years. But obviously the public can't buy this stuff and I doubt it's sufficient...

 

[Andy in Sig]

God I'm tired this morning, hard start to the week ... I meant buy a Typhoon to save those BAE jobs!

My memory is much like yours regarding the period and politics at the time of the campaign.

But what about now? Is there enough good stuff made here to make British products and jobs worth supporting? Could we make a difference through our purchasing choices?

Judging by the response rate here, there's little interest!

Maybe we could all chip in and buy a CC Typhoon and then you would just have to put your name on a list to use it for a weekend so you go and do a bit of bombing of the French or Belgians as a sort of morale booster.

Mind you, it wouldn't be very eco-friendly. Perhaps we should wait until they do a battery powered one which you can recharge from the kitchen while it's parked in the garden.

 

[mac1]

Too often, it seems to me, we are given either/or type options, red or blue, right or left, global or national, communism or capitalism, etc, etc.

Yeah, use what works, as opposed to ideology. Middle of the road? Trouble is, so many have their own idea of what that is...nobody thinks they're an extremist...

 

[Moodyman]

Carradice or Ortlieb = Carradice.

Rover or VW = VW.

If it does what it's supposed to and does it well, then I'll buy it.

I'm no going to buy something cause it wears the Union Jack. Those that ask us to are admitting that their products and inferior.

 

[MarkF]

Buy British via a campaign or trade import embargo will result increased prices for the consumer and shoddy goods. The 70's US car industry "protectionism" scheme is a good example.

 

[MacB]

I'm no going to buy something cause it wears the Union Jack. Those that ask us to are admitting that their products and inferior.

Which is fine and I agree with the sentiments around buying the perceived best quality, which is why I'd say we're better served by the 'fair trade' type approach rather than a nationalistic one. I'm guilty of buying cheap and I suspect that nearly everyone else here is, not always, but enough to matter.

Globalisation isn't going to be undone or at least not in a way any of us would want to see. But it's a bit like the problems facing the Euro at the moment, monetary union without fiscal policy union. We have a global marketplace without levelling the playing field with regard to employment. Don't get me wrong, we bought this hook line and sinker, dangle some cheap 'shiny shiny' in front of people and the game's up. You've got no chance of them taking a longer view about localised employment and distant land exploitation.

But even a new type of label, a sort of fair trade plus, wouldn't be enough to stop the rot. Wages have been depressed enough, and expectations raised, that people have little choice but to buy the cheapest imports possible, it's all they can afford. No campaign, or labelling, will be able to overcome that, it requires long term national and global strategy.

 

[subaqua]

Probably not wrt mass produced consumer goods - it requires such huge amounts of investment over the long term to enter the market and be competitive that people in this country just aren't interested. There aren't many like John Bloor who put their money where their mouth is with £200m or James Dyson...
.
We're doing rather well in other areas, I understand- number one in marine propulsion, 2nd in Aviation propulsion and we're rather good at ITC - information technology communications (I think). In fact the aerospace/technology sector realistically expects 10% growth over the next 2-3 years. But obviously the public can't buy this stuff and I doubt it's sufficient...

who fecked the factory off to malaysia when the local NIMBYs bleated and planning consent was refused . maybe he should have built it at dale farm

 

[Davidc]

I buy whatever is best value for money. If that's British then great.

Trade is what makes things work and improve, and that logically means some purchases are going to be non-British. If the economics change then some things we now buy from abroad will be British sourced and vice versa. Protectionism has never benefitted anyone in the long term and trade embargoes (aka sanctions) have occasionally been successful political tools but more often have just driven black-markets.

That said some trade is only possible because of the way the economic system distorts true costs. Food imported by air over great distances is an example where I try to avoid buying it.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Carradice or Ortlieb = Carradice.

Rover or VW = VW.

If it does what it's supposed to and does it well, then I'll buy it.

I'm no going to buy something cause it wears the Union Jack. Those that ask us to are admitting that their products and inferior.

There a\re plenty of cars that are built/assembled in the UK that provide a lot of jobs as well as componantry and smaller suppliers. So Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Ford etc.

Books could be ordered through local bookshops instead of Amazon, the LBS instead of Wiggle. It would need a 'cultural shift' but if there was a genuine benefit to the economy, maybe we could start to feel good about it. Dave's 'Big Society' eat your heart out, support your neighbour's job!