'Defence, aerospace, manufacturing and engineering have no real value to us.'

[Howard]

'Defence, aerospace, manufacturing and engineering have no real value to us.' says Gordon Brown adviser!

In The Telegraph yesterday.

A senior economic adviser to Gordon Brown said the City of London was all-important to the Government and “the rest of the country can be turned over to tourism”, it is claimed today.

A report on defence spending quotes the “influential” official as telling union officials that manufacturing had “no value” but the financial sector had to be “supported at all costs”.

The alleged comments, made before the collapse of Northern Rock but only now made public, appear to shed new light on the Government’s decision to press ahead with a £1.3 trillion bail-out of the banking sector while being criticised for doing too little to support industry.

The report by the UK National Defence Association (UKNDA), an independent body, quotes the government adviser as saying: “Defence, aerospace, manufacturing and engineering have no real value to us.

“Only high-quality professional services, financial services and the City of London have any real value and they should be supported at all costs. The rest of the country can be turned over to tourism.”

The report, which highlighted a £15 billion shortfall in defence spending, will lead to intense speculation over the identity of the unnamed government adviser.

Full story HERE

03 Mar 2009 © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2009

On the surface, only a tenuous connection to MG Rover so why post it here as this sort of pronouncement from one of the disgusting bunch of comedians in charge of this country is invariably quite upsetting to some of us on this forum?

Well I wouldn't be at all surprised if the unnamed government adviser was Baroness 5hiti 'green shoots' Vadera who alledgedly, as the woman Gordon Brown trusts more than any other in his Government, advised against HMG spending a single penny to save MGR for the nation.

Over-qualified, thick as pig , but a lot less useful.

The Telegraph 28 May 2008
Frustrated at the delay, the so-called Phoenix Four are discussing with advisers and lawyers a strategy to uncover what happened in the final days of MG Rover. It could be embarrassing for Mr Brown, the then Chancellor, and Shriti, now Baroness, Vadera, then one of his most powerful advisers at the Treasury.
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group

[osiris87]

I would love to know exactly which deluded idiot came up with that line, perhaps if it was recorded in cabinet minutes it could be found out using the freedom of information act. It's particularly disheartening to hear, because defense and aerospace are two of the few remaining areas where British companies still have a lead - perhaps the government would rather these were disbanded so that the scientists and engineers working there can instead go and work in financial services.

[SPM]

Originally Posted by osiris87

I would love to know exactly which deluded idiot came up with that line, perhaps if it was recorded in cabinet minutes it could be found out using the freedom of information act. It's particularly disheartening to hear, because defense and aerospace are two of the few remaining areas where British companies still have a lead - perhaps the government would rather these were disbanded so that the scientists and engineers working there can instead go and work in financial services.

Government policy may be deluded, but I would suggest that rather than being deluded, when it comes to describing government policies and priorities, he is spot on. This is the clearest statement yet on the policy that HMG has been following since the 70's, only the statements apply to the whole of industry not just the defence sector.

[osiris87]

Originally Posted by SPM

Government policy may be deluded, but I would suggest that rather than being deluded, when it comes to describing government policies and priorities, he is spot on. This is the clearest statement yet on the policy that HMG has been following since the 70's, only the statements apply to the whole of industry not just the defence sector.

Edit: I think I understand what you're saying - I agree that no recent Government has ever been enthusiastic about manufacturing, but it's still quite shocking to hear remarks like "The rest of the country can be turned over to tourism". It makes it sound (hopefully) that it's just that person's opinion, in which case they are a deluded idiot.

[1955diesel]

Very selective "alleged" comments from an unknown source. Not exactly a statement of government policy is it? Just another made up story from the Telegraph.

[iamstreetwise]

I work in Aerospace and i value my job. The company i work for is one of the few companies in manufacturing and aerospace that hasnt laid huge amounts of people off. Touch wood

[Roverama]

Originally Posted by 1955diesel

Very selective "alleged" comments from an unknown source. Not exactly a statement of government policy is it? Just another made up story from the Telegraph.

I thought this was government policy already, if not they have certainly had me fooled !

[1955diesel]

You may well be right. It was a policy introduced by Maggie that seems to have remained popular with governments ever since.

[AndrewPorter]

With this kind of advice its no wonder we have problems.

Could a FOI request reveal the numpty who said this?

I am not a Labour supporter but I find it hard to understand how the current leadership is betraying their roots by treating manufacturing with such contempt. I can see a situation arising where some unions feel they can work better with the tories than labour. Its a crazy world.

[iburnley]

Frankly im am outraged.

Not that will do any good i think i may write to may MP to express my displeasure.

[Jackonicko]

Disgusting. I hope we find out who this cretin was.

[tanvir]

Maybe the entire manuacturing sector should go on strike, just to prove a point. The country would be brought to its knees

[iamstreetwise]

Thats the problem it wouldnt bring the country to its knees. eventually everything will be out sourced to China or another developing country where labour is cheaper and overheads are low, take Airbus and Boeing for example.

[streetrover]

Originally Posted by SPM

Government policy may be deluded, but I would suggest that rather than being deluded, when it comes to describing government policies and priorities, he is spot on. This is the clearest statement yet on the policy that HMG has been following since the 70's, only the statements apply to the whole of industry not just the defence sector.

No I think it's more extreme than that. It's a clear statement that nothing has any value outside the City of london. If the City of London fails and this unnamed individual had gotten their way, the UK would have been totally bankrupt.

Thank god for the finanical collapse as if it had happened 5 years down the line we'd have all ended up with nothing.

[xerif]

Amazing how an unattributed story published in the Torygraph is given any creedance.

In the real world, Mandy is calling for green [B]industrial [/B]revolution. Nor is he alone. There is a once in a generation opportunity to restart industry in the UK from an environmental basis.

http://www.businessgreen.com/busines...on-calls-green

[streetrover]

Oh there have been comments and statements before. Remember those about the trickle-down economy? HMG never argued against the idea that the economy was dependant on finanicval services. They just couldn't or wouldn't contemplate the possibility of a collapse in banking and leanding.

It'll right itself of course. Lets hope while Germany and France, Japan and China benefit from the collapse of the smaller and debt-ridden carmakers, the UK turns its hand to something else.

Cars have become heavy industry. Where better to do a European green Nano?

[Frank]

since the 60"s we buy from the Usa ,cheap planes and other thing s .but the people in this country the lose there jobs .get dole money do nothing ,we end up paying more in the long run,