Cycling UK Forum

Germanys secret is a lot of long term family ownership in manufacturing. Here throughout my career there was a lot of selling out to Groups, most of them either asset strippers or folk who had no understanding of the businesses they were buying. Its settled down a bit now and we have some brilliant manufacturing outfits around.

Al

Cars etc are only about 3% or so of the UKs total exports. They are just headline items in the publics and politicians minds. Lots of components are imported. Design and development is done elsewhere. We need more indiginous manufacturing here including design and development not 'screwdriver' plants that are placed here by multinationals for political reasons.

Al

https://www.cityam.com/services-trade-s ... -exporter/

Goods and Services - UN Data for 2022...

Al

Yes, thats what I noted. The Bank reacted by cranking up rates. Truss was leading the government. Is the bank in a rebel 'Deep State' with the OBR and an out of control Treasury?

Al

Some nice negative stories for you to trash Britain once more.... Whether they make any difference to anyone is unclear or whether other unmentioned positives outweigh them?

Al

Yes, but the Chancellor doesnt control interest rates the BOE does. Did they overeact? Was the panic necessary? Was it the establishment's way of sinking Truss's plan?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68797651

Al

I believe all those Institutions are an integral part of the Deep State.... anti progress, anti Industry, LSE, pro EU therefore anti democratic.....backed by shadowy ex politicians and grandees with influence, Blair etc....

Its pretty clear something stinks.....

Al

Not specifically. Time you answered some questions. For a start why are you always trying to run the UK down?

Al

If you get a chance read Liz Truss's article in the Saturday Mail. According to her her reforms were sunk by the triumvirate of the BOE, the OBR and the Treasury pulling the economic rug out. She wanted to scrap the OBR (its forecasts are mostly wrong), the Treasury is anti Manufacturing, pro EU Remain, pro immigration, and the BOE staffed by dullards. In truth we are doing reasonably well compared to similar nations but we are constantly under verbal attack by sulking remainers (much in evidence hereabouts).

Al

Whose prediction Jonathan? Yours were a joke. You were predicting Britain would be a wasteland. It didnt happen did it? You can continue talking our country down as much as you like but it doesnt alter the fact that you were wrong big time. Anyway lets see what your lot come up with....

Al

It was a UN calculation. Thanks for all the Googling by various folk.
However its perhaps a better scenario that one would have expected and probably due in part to the difficulties that other exporting nations have been facing. Perhaps we are more resilient to global problems than we believed? The news from my pal in Germany is that they are facing a new set of challenges adversely affecting employment and housing.

Al

Britain has become the world's fourth largest exporter, fresh figures have shown - despite warnings that international trade would fall off a cliff following Brexit.

The UK has shot up from its previous ranking of seventh in 2021, United Nations data has shown, rising three places in 2022, the most recent year available.

In doing so, it has overtaken France, the Netherlands and Japan in the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
statistics for goods and services exports

Good News ......

Al

Missed that... The listing people are little demi gods afraid to allow any modern innovations, but, I think you can now get double glazing that isnt obvious. But....its at an eye watering price. It would save going round with window vacs every morning

Al

From The Times....

If the past is a foreign country, most of us are looking to emigrate. Far from believing that our best days lie ahead, a study suggests most people are wistful for the good old days.

Exactly when you think the good old days were depends, perhaps unsurprisingly, on your age. The over-70s are most likely to think the Sixties were truly swinging, just as they were becoming adults, according to the YouGov poll for Times Radio, while the under-30s think the turn of the millennium was the best of times.

A third of people overall think the 1960s and 1970s were better than today, but then the nostalgia drops away quite sharply. Only 16 per cent think it was better in the 1950s, which gave birth to the Boomer generation, falling to 4 per cent for the wartime 1940s.

Personally as an octogenarian the 60s were absolutely fantastic. I also think my childhood in the late 40s and 50s was wonderful and character forming unlike anything in the awful sheltered world enjoyed by todays pampered youngsters.

Al

No, sloppy sashes cause draughts. Ours are close fitting - no draughts! Glazing is a different matter. Anyway nothing to do with measurement systems.
Metrication of the currency was a financial disaster for the public. We got royally screwed by retailers. Stupid litres on petrol pumps, yet everyone still calculates mpg! As for km You can stuff it. Kids give their heights in ft and inches America sticks largely to sort of Imperial units, doesnt seem to had adversly affected them? I can think and measure in both...am I bothered - not really.

Al