Steve Turner urges the British government to show faith in homegrown skills and products

Continuing the ‘Make in Britain’ theme, Steve Turner, the Unite Union’s assistant general secretary for manufacturing, opens a recent article by saying that this is an extraordinary national moment to reshape our economy for the common good.

Towards the end of last year, he met a major employer asking for Unite’s help with replacing their entire fleet of vans with electric ones built in the UK. That would be good for the planet, good for UK jobs – there was just one problem — not a single electric van is made in this country which would meet their needs. Turner has taken many similar calls in recent times and adds:

• our navy’s ships are built on the Clyde with imported steel rather than that produced in the UK,
• when laying super-fast broadband cables here, miles of fibreoptic cable is bought from North Carolina instead of from two world-class sites in the UK,
• our emergency services are driving around in anything but a UK produced vehicle
• and an army of UK manufacturers of personal protective equipment cannot get a UK contract despite supplying millions to overseas governments. 

Turner (right) asks why our government and many private-sector corporations show no faith in our homegrown skills and products.

When the coronavirus crisis hit, our automotive and aerospace sectors in particular were already being challenged by the US/China trade war, the climate emergency and Brexit-related uncertainties.

As we now look to build back, he stresses, this is the opportunity to repair, recover and rebuild with manufacturing at the heart of a new, greener, transitioning economy.

There is a ‘vivid and urgent’ need to invest, diversify and better utilise the UK’s world-leading research and design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities — upskilling millions and training an army of new apprentices on the way.

This will mean that focused sectoral support, given in Germany and France, should continue for some time to come.

When overseas companies announce plant closures (below, Honda, Swindon, June ’21) government could step in and invest in the production of electric vehicles, batteries, powertrain, fuel-cells and digital control systems.

Turner says “The plants are available, the workforce ready”.

An industrial strategy for levelling up our economy, skilling our workforce and supporting our regions is required – moving away from over-reliance on overseas supply chains, imported products and insecure, low-paid service jobs.

He points out that for every worker in a manufacturing plant, four more jobs are supported through the supply chain. Decent wages in the manufacturing sector support millions of families, high streets and communities across the land and contribute the export revenues and UK taxes that support the NHS and public services. And ends:

Urgent action is now needed to build back better – securing our manufacturing base in a high-value, high-waged economy while delivering the country’s climate change obligations.

 

 

 

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