And the same to you, mate
For those who just think that a smaller state is the answer to everything, Vauxhall and Just Eat have some news for you.
Vauxhall has announced it plans to shut its van factory at Luton, threatening more than 1,000 jobs, because the introduction of EVs has been mishandled. Mishandled by the previous government that is, but that won’t stop the papers blaming Labour.
Meanwhile Just Eat is delisting from the London Stock Exchange and returning to just having its shares quoted in Amsterdam, another blow to the increasingly weak and fragile London share market which is becoming irrelevant. The last government stood by and watched this happen and then introduced Brexit just to speed along the process, a kind of assisted dying, if you will.
The state has a massive and irreplaceable role in regulating all industries and ensuring they work for the public good, can prosper and have the encouragement and environment to allow them to do well.
Mismanaging a vital technological transition or ignoring the decline of a vital sector of a once dominant market place are both disastrous.
But if you believe in an ever smaller state these things will increasingly happen. We are not a large enough economy that we can afford to lose the car industry or have every British company quoted elsewhere because we cannot provide the liquidity and finance they need.
The market will let both those things happen, it doesn’t care, it just follows the money. The last government didn’t care either; its “Fuck business” attitude is and was very clear and so is the reply from business.
From Jonty Bloom Media Ltd
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
Steve Richards quoted an article/blog/tweet!!- can’t recall the source or author in a recent podcast juxtaposing the approaches of 2 key players on the government/ Streeting and Phillipson- both with large departments to run but using market or government intervention and funding models. Steve rightly points out this may be simplistic but it might point to a new Starmer govt approach neither Blairite nor social democratic model, but what works best ie pragmatism - don’t get too dogmatic/theoretical.