Why do you hope that?
I could agree with that in part, but it begs the question: how is it that Germany (for example) can still run heavy industries in competition with the examples you give (China and India), yet pay their workers a decent wage?
I’d suggest that it is because in Germany, business owners and trade unions are able and willing to work together.
And yet, Assman, at the same time that Thatcher was wrecking the social fabric of Britain in Australia the Hawke/Keating government introduced The Accord.
The Accord had exactly the effect that Thatcher sought by reducing the power of the Unions and their eventual demise also but restructured the economy which allowed Australia to have 30 years of economic growth without a recession.
If anybody thinks that Thatcher was good for the UK they need their bumps felt, she was merely slightly more destructive than the conga line of useless non-entities that preceeded and followed her.
Margaret Thatcher saved the UK.
The British Empire was a different kettle of fish entirely Annie…
The British, as with other civilised countries like France, Spain, Holland and Portugal took civilisation to the great unwashed. Running water, sanitation, railways, communications and in some cases religion, in exchange for some of the riches that that country could provide, nobody works for nothing!..But as with every other miracle of it’s time, outlives it’s usefulness and goes to the extreme.
Take the unions for example; They came to the fore just when they were needed and provided the working man/woman with decent working conditions and a fair wage. Then they became counter productive and were responsible for the demise of British Industry.
And so it is with Globalism. It served its purpose at the time and allowed the odd trade deals with other countries without all the red tape we see today with the likes of the EU.
Now bring in the big multinational corporations who have no borders or allegiance to any country and trade where the labour and materials are cheapest. They care not about the working man, and pay lip service to health and safety. They are more powerful than any government, and can inflict more pain and suffering than any war.
Again, I praise Donald Trump for wanting to break up these large companies and restore fair competition, wealth, jobs, and industry to the American people…Modern day globalism sucks Annie…
Unfortunately, a lot of people hate her for their own personal reasons and, for that reason, choose to ignore all the good she did for this country.
We haven’t had a half-decent PM since and look at what has happened to the country.
I would agree with you on Maggies good qualities JBR, She had
more backbone than any or all of our so called leaders in the last
100 years??
She faced and beat the communist unions of the time !
She faced and beat the facist Argentina over the Falkland islands !
And she stood up to the grasping EU commissioners !
The one mistake she made imo, was that in order to destroy the
unions she decided she had to remove their power base first,
Which of course was the workers, which she did by colluding with
industrialists to sell off their assets and close down their
businesses, and invest the proceeds on the stock exchange?
So the lndustrialists were happy with their stocks and shares !
The workers were happy with their severance packages !
But the unions were finished, ok, but the country itself was left
with thousands of redundant skilled workers living on dwindling
redundancy payouts which had seemed great in the beginning
and little prospect of getting a skilled job again??
You probably know all of this but this is my analysis of events in uk
at that time?
Fortunately for me l was not here to see it, as l decided to emigrate
before Maggie took over due to being fed up with union
interference !!
Donkeyman!
Yes Brucy, l remember you had your own problems with your
unions in thse days,
But luckily for you you could solve it a different way??
Probably because your work force was not so large??
Imo you should keep it that way and keep your population stable?
You dont need more people !!
Donkeyman!
I was not talking about retiring in Europe DM - I was meaning working and moving freely between countries to do so.
Yes I agree with that Donkeyman, far easier to control a smaller working population and what was basically a developing nation back then. Australia will eventually develop into the overpopulated struggling mess that the UK has turned out to be unless the population can be kept to manageable limits.
The trouble is we need their skills and enthusiasm here Aerolor. Otherwise we will be left with all the riff raff…
We need loyal, patriotic, hard working young people to elevate us from the doldrums we are presently suffering. It worked in the past…
Possibly - but our Maggie had no intention of working with anybody, least of all the unions. She hated them with a vengance and revenge was what motivated her.
Best not to knock the stuffing out of them then. Pay them decently and give them prospects. Most companies don’t just reside in the UK - my son’s company in particular has branches working all over Europe and the rest of the world. I wonder if, after Brexit, he will be able to take advantage of European opportunities within his own company. Moving around gives people far more experience and understanding than simply remaining in one place.
Anyonenwith any sense could see the unions of that era had no
Intention of working with anybody Aerolor! They wanted to
control everything themselves!
They even controlled who or did or didnt get access to premises??
One of the reasons l emigrated!!
My boss even had to import a large deisel generator in order to
continue operating??
Allthough l was upset at what she did, it was probably her only
option??
Since those days l have been more anti union, but l can see that
unions will soon be needed again the way things are going, only
they must be controlled by the members and not the executive !!
Donkeyman!
I see no problem for your son in the future Aerolor?
If he has relevant skills his company will arrange for him to
to relocate, as simple as that, as long as he is willing and any family
he has are supportive??
I can recommend it !!
Donkeyman!
It looks to me that the future for GB will have to be in the financial services sector and a service sector to support it. The UK can never and will never become a manufacturing nation in the future as it once was. We can’t compete in the global market place because of quality and price which we can’t march much less compete. Even IT is now out of our reach other than possibly very much bleeding edge stuff for which there is only a very small market.
Forget what the country once did where manufacturing is concerned… That’s now being done better and cheaper and to a higher quality than we ever did and certainly couldn’t match now.
Any and all future we have is going to be as a tax efficient investment broker and providing support to that sector. Metal bashing is yesterday for us. Chemical engineering may have a bit of a future but it’ll be a low yield industry because of market size. Telecommunications sector, can’t compete in the market. Too many countries waay ahead of us to the extent that we simply can’t catch up or manufacture to compete, in fact other than the banking and insurance sector we’re out in the cold.
What that is going to do to the UK heaven only knows. I’m just glad that I’ve got no significant investments depending on the future of the UK industrial sector.
Aren’t executive members of unions voted in by the members DM.
In that case we are stuffed AT. Pity those who follow after us.
I hope so DM. He is thinking about New Zealand at the moment and I would encourage them to go.