Franglais:
Carryfast:
Do you really think that the French plan isn’t that of taking out all its GM competition in Europe.Of which we are just a small satellite assembly operation and as such we have more to gain by getting into a trade war with Europe than we have to to lose.IE we lose Astra exports there through tarrifs we hit PSA and Renault and VAG and all the rest with quotas.While GM manufacturing ended here decades ago anyway with the last Vivas and Victors and Bedfords etc.Make no mistake the Polish and German plants have more to be worried about than us.While GM are just acting true to form in being a bunch of muppets just as previously having not only taken out its UK operations long ago but now also closing its Australian Holden operations.IE nothing to do with the EU but just GM acting true to form as usual in cutting off its nose to spite its face.Just as it did in the case of handing its heavy vehicle manufacturing operation over to Volvo and calling Daewoo’s Chevrolets.
On that note just like the Australian government it doesn’t make much difference to us either way unless our own government is prepared to act in the national interest.In this case in the form of kicking out the Europeans whether Opel or PSA etc and taking our own manufacturing base like Vauxhall and Leyland back from the US multinationals by compulsory purchase and if needed Nationalisation.Then applying the strict import barriers that we should have applied in 1973 instead of joining the EU.All of which I’m sure that the Trump administration would be more sympathetic to than seeing us get screwed by those with your plans in the EU for the crime of wanting to secede.
Para 1. So we put quotas on all PSA Renault etc cars into the UK? Well that
ll put up our cost of living straight away. With retaliatory quotas against us Nissan wont be sticking around too long Id bet so unemployment rises. Para 2. The Polish economy has more potential for growth than ours, so plants there are more likely to be a future investment surely? A relatively cheap, but well educated workforce that has proved itself motivated enough to travel and seek work, with space on cheap land for expansion. G.M. is merely acting like the multi-national or maybe supra-national company it is. No thought given to any country or its population.
Para 3. “taking our own manufacturing base like Vauxhall and Leyland back from the US multinationals by compulsory purchase” They would currently worth how much? Not enough to build an economy on Id think. Where would the components or raw materials come from? In your scenario wed be in a trade war with almost everyone and would be paying top money to import steel etc.
We can maybe agree on the problem CF, but I cant agree youre offering a solution here.EDIT: re Trump: Any sympathy from him will be as valuable as his promises.
You don’t see that what I’m saying is a solution because you obviously think that carrying on as we are with an unsustainable trade deficit is viable.Nor do you seem to want to even take on board the idea that the domestic market is worth more to us at home than our combined sales to the EU.IE they flog more cars and components for sale here than we flog there.In which case the way punitive quotas work is that EU tariffs hit our exports.But UK manufacturers have more to gain here when the domestic customer base is faced with the choice of buy British or go without not pay more because quotas mean an under supplied protected market not the choice of pay more for the French/German etc import.In which case are you really suggesting that UK manufacturing wouldn’t then take off to meet that captive demand by necessity.At which point that compulsory purchased Vauxhall factory starts to look a lot more attractive with a captive domestic market that means not only a move away from small scale assembly of Astras.But the ‘manufacture’ of both Astras and Zafiras among others.As does re building the damage done to our manufacturing base in general.The same situation could also apply to Leyland.IE Leyland moves from assembly to manufacture of all trucks sold in the UK.
IE as I said we stop being a small satellite assembly operation and get back to actually making stuff again from steel works to finished product.Instead of giving away the jobs to European workers.That argument soon to be added to when German workers find their jobs going to France.Or could that be a political move to re distribute wealth from Germany to France because of the fear of the rise of the FN ?.
