Member News
By Lord Empey - 20th December 2011
Lord Empey writes ahead of his question in the upper chamber asking what the government is doing to promote manufacturing.
Many years ago there was a feeling that the UK had given up on manufacturing; there was a perception that Whitehall felt that most of it would go to the Far East, and Britain would be better off concentrating on the new growth sectors such as financial services, tourism and IT. Well, how wrong that was!
Manufacturing is still an important part of our economy, and to bring our balance of payments under control, we must do all we can to encourage manufacturers.
The present eurozone crisis has demonstrated that underlying much of the uncertainty is that countries like the UK are buying in more than we are selling, and that that is an underlying weakness of the UK economy.
Government has said that it wants to do everything it can to promote manufacturing; I hope this is true. But in practice, what does this mean?
I would like to see, even if it is only in the short term, measures put in place to encourage companies to invest. There is money out there, but the lack of confidence in the market is causing companies to hold back on investments. Whether by means of targeted write-offs or even greater encouragement for R&D spending, we have got to stimulate investment in manufacturing if we want Britain to be more self-sufficient. In the current downturn, now is the ideal time for this investment.
Reg Empeywas leader of the Ulster Unionist party from 2005-2010.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd