Not bright but not the issue either
So, who do we side with? P&O has decided to “delay” an investment in its UK port the Thames Gateway after a minister criticised its employment policies, which are, to be fair, illegal in the UK.
Should ministers bite their lips and kowtow to big business or stand up to them and speak the truth?
It seems to me that big business in the UK has a very long habit of getting exactly what it wants from compliant government’s, for all the good it has done us. After all there is plenty of foreign investment in France, Germany and elsewhere, where the employment legislation is many times tougher than in the UK, taxes are higher and the unions far stronger.
And those countries are all much wealthier than the UK. Might it be that big business sees the UK as a soft touch, with ministers who will bend over backwards to cut their taxes and let them shaft their workers? Might part of the problem be that as a result the UK has very low productivity and poorly trained staff and that combined with lousy infrastructure means we are the ones who need business more than they need us?
Insulting a firm just before a summit on investment when they were due to turn up with £1 billion is not bright, but this investment is going to happen anyway. However if we had a more attractive economy then we would be fighting these firms off with a stick.
In the long term that is what matters.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
By Jonty Bloom Media
Perhaps this the point where enough is enough? The line has to be drawn and the level of foreign ownership of companies delivering transport, utilities, infrastructure, etc., and thus the export of profits, has to be reined in.
It’s the cycle of tories helping their chums for several parliaments followed by labour desperately trying to sort out the mess and then being dumped cos things haven’t got better fast that is so depressing. The long term view would be wonderful …