How to explain why the UK is losing its industrial capacity

The UK is in the midst of a crisis of confidence, with the government’s forecast for manufacturing’s decline falling to a record low of just 0.6% by 2021, the ONS has warned.

The ONS said manufacturing is a key part of the UK economy, and the UK has lost an estimated 2.6 million manufacturing jobs since 2014, and a further 2.4 million since the recession began.

“Despite the recession, manufacturing is now one of the most important industries in the UK, with employment up by 5.6 per cent in the last 12 months, according to ONS figures,” the ONW said in its Annual Business Outlook.

“Manufacturing employment is expected to be the second largest in the EU in 2021, after agriculture.”

Industry minister Jo Johnson has made the case for industrial capacity to be restored, but this is only half the battle.

“The recovery of the manufacturing sector is now a key issue in the Brexit negotiations, and we need to work with industry to ensure the future of the sector remains secure,” the report said.

“This will require the Government to continue to take strong action to help support the UK’s manufacturers and ensure they are not hit by job losses.”

But it warned that if the UK continues to lose manufacturing capacity, it could see a surge in unemployment.

“In 2019, the number of manufacturing jobs lost was the second highest in the G7 and third highest in Europe,” the study said.

“It is likely that the UK will lose a further 7 million manufacturing job opportunities over the next decade.”

If the UK were to continue losing manufacturing jobs at the rate it has done so recently, by 2021 the Government is expected by the ONZ to have lost 2.8 million manufacturing employment opportunities.

“Johnson has set out a plan to help the manufacturing industry recover, including investing in a new industrial hub to take on the “tremendous challenges” of building the UK out of the EU.”

There is much work to do to ensure that this economic transformation is achieved in a sustainable way,” he said in a statement.”

That said, it is clear that there is still much work left to do and that a recovery in manufacturing is essential.

“However, the report also said the Government’s industrial strategy for 2020-2021 was not as ambitious as the previous one.”

Given the size of the current recovery, there is scope for improvement in 2020-21, but in 2020 the Government will be spending an extra £1.8bn in 2019-20 to invest in industrial infrastructure and support new investment,” it said.

Johnson said that by 2020 the UK would have 1.5 million industrial jobs, with a further 1.6m expected in 2021.”

I will make a bold pledge that the Government would invest in 1 million new industrial jobs over the coming years,” he added.”

Our ambition is to build on the progress made in the past three years, and invest in a UK-wide industrial strategy that will deliver 1 million industrial employment in 2020.”‘

No-one’s looking at the economy’There are no plans to change the way the economy is run, and there is no appetite for a government that doesn’t see the economy as a “solution” to a problem, the government said.

The report warned that a Brexit-led “hard Brexit” was not on the cards, despite warnings from the Treasury and the Bank of England that it could be.”

While it is true that some of the measures being proposed in the negotiations are a step in the right direction, they are insufficient to restore the manufacturing base, and would only deliver temporary benefits to businesses,” it warned.”

Furthermore, it would take time for the government to set the right economic policy in the context of the transition period.

This will mean that we are unlikely to see a significant improvement in manufacturing employment in 2021.

“Johnson is set to meet with his European counterparts later on Thursday, and he has already outlined plans to introduce new financial rules for UK companies to use foreign cash in order to help them cope with Brexit.”

We must remain focused on achieving the right outcome for Britain and its people in the coming months, and this will be the priority for the next Prime Minister,” the Treasury said.