{"id":8585,"date":"2016-04-29T16:55:11","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T15:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8585"},"modified":"2016-05-03T16:50:52","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T15:50:52","slug":"a-uk-without-manufacturing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8585","title":{"rendered":"A UK without manufacturing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Economics professor Patrick Minford came out yesterday (April 28) to say<\/a> that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bif we left the EU, it seems that we would mostly eliminate manufacturing.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But, Minford \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who was a major proponent of Margaret Thatcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economic policies in the 1980s \u00e2\u20ac\u201c says this wholesale elimination of manufacturing post-Brexit \u00e2\u20ac\u015bshouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t scare us\u00e2\u20ac\u0165. In fact, we should welcome it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If Minford is right, what, then, were to happen if all UK manufacturing eventually disappeared?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For one, 2.6m jobs would be gone. Manufacturing accounts for nearly half of all our exports at 44 per cent. Business research and development in the UK would take a massive hit, as 69 per cent of R&D is spent on manufacturing. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d say goodbye to our position on global tables \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we now stand 7th<\/sup> in the world in terms of manufacturing output.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although the services industry dominates the present UK economy, manufacturing still represents 10 per cent of our GDP and is a major contributing factor in driving productivity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a key measure in the long-term health of the economy and working people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s living standards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unlike services, which Minford said we should embrace as we give up on the business of making things, manufacturing provides well-paid, highly skilled jobs. Average annual wages in manufacturing stand at nearly \u00c2\u014131,000, compared to only \u00c2\u014126,500 in services.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the future health of manufacturing in the UK is, many experts have warned, very much dependent on the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s continued membership in the European Union (EU).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EEF, the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manufacturing association, notes that the EU accounts for 18 per cent of global output \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the UK sells 50 per cent of all its exports to the EU. The EU is also a major driver of innovation in the UK \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it invests \u00c2\u014111bn each year on innovation programmes, of which 15 per cent is invested in the UK.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more, the leading destination for foreign investment in the EU is the UK.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The future of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exports and imports of manufactured goods is inextricably linked to continued membership in the EU \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in 2012, the value of imports of manufactured goods from the EU to the UK stood at \u00c2\u0141158bn, while the value of exports from the UK to the EU stood at \u00c2\u0141104bn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Manufacturers are united in their belief that the UK is better off remaining in the EU.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A recent EEF survey<\/a> shows that 84 per cent of UK manufacturers believe being part of the EU is a positive aspect of the UK business environment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The survey also showed that an astounding 50 per cent of manufacturing companies would be less likely to increase investment if the UK were to leave the EU.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trade deals<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, leaders of some of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s top engineering firms, including Airbus, Siemens and Rolls-Royce among others, signed a letter<\/a> presenting their case for staying in the EU.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBritish engineering is deeply integrated with global markets and companies,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 the letter read. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf Britain votes to leave the EU, the period of uncertainty about the terms on which access to these markets would be granted would be a threat to the sector.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBrexit would be a loss of automatic access to the EU market. Negotiating new trade agreements would take time, during which our trade would be damaged.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBrexit supporters are of the na\u0102\u017bve opinion that negotiating trade deals can be easily done if we leave the UK,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have no experience negotiating big trade deals outside of the EU \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they often take years to negotiate. What will do in those five or more years before trade deals are agreed?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Burke highlighted US president Barack Obama\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recent statement that the UK would necessarily go to the back of the queue in any trade deal with the US if it were to leave the EU.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in the EU, we won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the power of being in a market of 500 million people, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be in a market of only 60 million,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Burke said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat do you think the US will do when they want to do a trade deal with us? They won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t negotiate with us \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just send us an email and tell us to sign on the dotted line. We won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any say.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Recipe for disaster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Burke agreed with Minford\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s assessment that manufacturing would be all but eliminated if the UK left the EU, but while Minford says the services industry can easily replace manufacturing, Burke argued that this is a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo modern, developed country can exist without having a strong manufacturing base,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be successful only by selling everybody insurance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe would have a permanent zero-hours, low-skill, low-paid economy \u00e2\u20ac\u201ca Brexit which destroys manufacturing would mean a complete and utter race to the bottom.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnce those high-skill, high-wage jobs in manufacturing are gone, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come back,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd those UK workers looking for good jobs will move overseas and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d take their skills with them \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be losing the best and the brightest.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Burke urged workers in the manufacturing sector who will be casting their ballot in June to consider their own interests and the future of their children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSomeone working in the manufacturing sector now who votes to leave would be a like a turkey voting for Christmas,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn a Brexit scenario, manufacturing companies will take decisions about investment that will not necessarily be in our favour.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen skilled jobs in manufacturing will be harder to come by, it would reduce pay and conditions throughout the sector even more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Work protections<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Burke highlighted, too, that the employment protections many of us take for granted are afforded to us by our membership with the EU.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf your company gets taken over by another company \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which happens often in manufacturing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got rights from the EU which would eventually go if we voted to leave. Rights to equal pay, four week holiday entitlement on average pay and protections for part-time and agency workers would all be affected.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bShift work is common in manufacturing and throughout the UK economy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the EU gives us specific rights which means we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be forced to work long hours and moreover you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re entitled to breaks between your shifts and breaks while you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in work. These too, would go out the window.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe important thing to remember for workers now considering which way they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll vote is that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just about the present, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also about the future and their children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Burke added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe decision to stay in or leave the EU will have monumental consequences for the future shape of our economy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c do we want a world with better, skilled jobs for our children who are protected in the workplace, or one in which we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in freefall in a race to the bottom?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Economics professor Patrick Minford came out yesterday (April 28) to say that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bif we left the EU, it seems that we would mostly eliminate manufacturing.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165   But, Minford \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who was a major proponent of Margaret Thatcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economic policies in the 1980s \u00e2\u20ac\u201c says this wholesale elimination of manufacturing post-Brexit \u00e2\u20ac\u015bshouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t scare us\u00e2\u20ac\u0165. In fact, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[465,55],"wps_subtitle":"Permanent low-pay economy looms under Brexit","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8585"}],"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=8585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8586,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8585\/revisions\/8586"}],"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=8585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}