Sleepwalking

Fifty years ago, living in North East Essex in what is now a UKIP stronghold, I was already a Europhile, listening to Dutch pirate radio stations in preference to the domestic outpourings. I became a fan of many Dutch bands of the era, including Focus and Golden Earring, both of whom are still going, the latter having started in 1961 and having a line-up unchanged since 1970.

And so, 50 years on, I came to the Engineering Employers Federation 2017 Manufacturing Conference, held at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster. Hosted by BBC Breakfast star Steph McGovern, the impressive array of speakers included Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark.

McDonnell gave an impassioned speech about all that was wrong with Brexit, especially from a manufacturing perspective. So much so that one could barely contain the astonishment about why all the Labour MPs had been whipped to pass through the same Article 50 lobby as the Brexiteers. His arguments for supporting strategic industries and raising the UK's investment in manufacturing to 2 to 3% of GDP in line with our European neighbours resonated as sound pillars of an industrial strategy.

Meanwhile, just round the corner at the Policy Exchange, Tim Farron was giving an address on Renewable Energy, which has now overtaken coal as the world’s biggest source of power-generating capacity. 

Though Britain has been at the forefront of developing this technology, the world is catching on. China, for example, is working towards becoming a green energy superpower, with huge investments in solar. India is making strides in their development of wind power. And Ireland has voted to become the first country to divest completely from fossil fuels.

Farron's point is that investment in the new energy sources of solar, wind and tidal would not only make the UK self-sufficient in energy, but also create hundreds of thousands of jobs. He lamented that the support secured for these industries during the coalition government was no being retracted in favour of reliance on the traditional energy sources of oil and gas, including fracking. "Brexit is but a flesh wound in comparison to the implications of not tackling the global climate issue," Farron asserted (not that he has any intention of giving up on the fight against Brexit).

Back at the QEII, the afternoon session kicked off with an interesting panel discussion involving Jurgen Maier from Siemens, Colin Lawther from Nissan and Stephen Cooper from KPMG. Maier called on UK industry to invest to get ahead. "Automation and robotics investment will increase productivity by 20%, but also jobs by 7%, he claimed. Digitisation could benefit the UK automotive industry by as much as £8.6 billion per annum.

Overall, manufacturers preferred to focus on how to make manufacturing better, than to focus on the implications of Brexit. Reluctant acquiescence seems to be the current mood. The CBI’s recent survey of London businesses (predominantly financial with only 9% in manufacturing) have seen what they describe as "a rebound" of confidence from 4% to 19% in the percentage of companies who feel more positive about the economy over the next six months. Some might see it as a fairly low bounce though, since 81% of businesses do not see it that way.

Forty one years ago in 1976, the aforementioned Golden Earring released a song called Sleepwalking. "Last night's blind date hit me like a hand grenade," go the lyrics. Unlike Radar Love, this one never made it big in the UK. Let's hope it's not an omen.

You can watch Tim Farron’s presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=72DYoLngbqM