{"id":13708,"date":"2017-10-09T16:56:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T15:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13708"},"modified":"2017-10-09T16:56:31","modified_gmt":"2017-10-09T15:56:31","slug":"from-crisis-to-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13708","title":{"rendered":"‘From crisis to crisis’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The Tories are responsible for a recent deluge of gloomy economic indicators and are too bogged down in internecine conflict to come up with a long term plan to stabilise the economy, Unite has warned.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The union raised the alarm ahead of next month\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Budget<\/a>, saying the economy is being damaged because the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTories are too focused on their own infighting to provide political leadership\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Worrying data<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) data currently puts the UK at the bottom of the G7 for growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The ONS figures were released just days before the results of closely-watched purchasing managers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 index (PMI) surveys on the manufacturing, construction and services sectors were published last week.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UK construction was found to be heading into recession in September as the sector began to contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the services sector there were subdued business-to-business sales<\/a> and delayed decision making on large projects in response to Brexit\u00c2\u00a0related uncertainty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

British manufacturers also showed signs of restricted growth<\/a>, according to the PMI survey, after a boost to exports due to a weak pound was offset by Brexit fears and increased production costs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Worrying data also emerged from the automotive sector last week, when it was revealed that UK car sales fell by 9.3 percent<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The drop follows five months of declining sales for the auto industry, meaning there is a real danger that UK car registrations will see their first annual fall in six years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The bad news kept coming on Friday, after new ONS data showed the productivity of UK workers fell<\/a> in the three to months to June. The 0.1 per cent drop followed a larger 0.5 per cent fall in productivity during the three months to March.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The fall puts the UK the fifth out of the G7 economies, with only Japan and Canada having lower productivity levels.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Low-skill, low-pay economy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The failure to raise productivity levels has been attributed to the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s increasing reliance on a low-skilled low-pay economy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although unemployment is relatively low, the trend has resulted in meagre wage growth that has fallen behind increasing living costs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This week the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is expected to concede that its previous forecasts for productivity growth have been too optimistic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The OBR will announce that the low productivity experienced since the 2008 financial crash is likely to carry on for several more years and that its March forecast needs to be downgraded.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As well as boding ill for wage growth and living standards, the downgrade will also hurt tax receipts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Report\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s indicate<\/a> that treasury officials believe the OBR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reevaluation could wipe \u00c2\u014118bn from the chancellor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00c2\u014126bn \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwar chest\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, created during the last budget to use in the event of a chaotic Brexit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Long-term plan call<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Tories are too focused on their own infighting to provide political leadership or come up with a long term plan which would bring stability to industry,” Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bInstead they lurch from crisis to crisis, taking the occasional break from their scheming to try and deal with the next high profile investment decision or the potentially devastating closures of large manufacturing sites such as Delphi<\/a> in Suffolk or Cummins<\/a> in Lincolnshire.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s before they get to the trade dispute between Bombardier<\/a> and Boeing, which puts thousands of jobs in Northern Ireland at risk while blowing a hole in the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plans for an easy trade deal with Trump\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s America.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Burke also criticised the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inept handling of the Brexit<\/a> negotiations, which is creating uncertainty for business and causing the economy to slow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn the background to this is the countdown to Brexit and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that David Davis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 team are no closer to any sort of deal. The problem isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a tactical display of British bulldog stubbornness at the negotiating table as Davis would have us believe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe problem is the government doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what it wants. As any negotiator worth their salt knows, if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t demand something you risk ending up with nothing.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Burke said UK manufacturing needs a long-term vision, brought together in an industrial strategy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Such a strategy would plan new public investment in infrastructure projects to support foundation industries; create new, highly skilled jobs in emerging technologies, and restore balance and stability to industry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Burke added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt becomes clearer every day that Labour is the only party with such a plan.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Tories are responsible for a recent deluge of gloomy economic indicators and are too bogged down in internecine conflict to come up with a long term plan to stabilise the economy, Unite has warned.   The union raised the alarm ahead of next month\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Budget, saying the economy is being damaged because the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTories […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[386,167,196,55,326],"wps_subtitle":"Gloomy data shows need for industrial strategy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13709,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13708\/revisions\/13709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}