BMW's Mini

[anotheoldgit]

Did it make anyone else cringe to see Brown bowing and scraping to the Germans when he addressed a meeting in Coventry today? "BMW's commitment to building its successful Mini in the UK is a welcome boost for the British car industry". Excuse me but I thought we no longer had a car industry. We should be building our own products in the Uk instead of depending on foriegn manufactures, who can withdraw their companies back to their countries, at the drop of a hat., Peugeot at Ryton is a good example.

[jake-the-peg]

As opposed to British businessmen who just take over British car companies and leg it with �40 million each hanging the workforce out to dry.

And you wonder why we no longer have a volume car industry

[Loosehead]

we don't have car industry Jake becaue it was destroyed by communist union leaders in the 60's and 70's. On strike every 5 minutes over trivia and building sh1t cars because they where incompetant and the union laws made it impossible to fire anyone. You probably looked at it as the good old days but the car industry along with the rest of the country was being strangled by socialism. Then as if by a gift from god we where furnished with the awesome Maggie T who kicked their lefty arses from here to the great closed shop in the sky, thanks Maggie, we all owe you!

[jno]

the UK car industry was laid low by incompetent management (and more recently looters, as jake says) and stroppy workforces. And also the reluctance of the British to buy British, for whatever reason. So now we're reliant (an appropriate word) on the Germans paying us to stick Dinky toys together... but none of that is Brown's fault, or even New Labour's, remarkably enough.

[jno]

Loosehead's post wasn't there when I was writing, but just to add to it: after the war, the Japanese wanted to start up a car industry (I believe the earliest Datsuns were copies of Austin 7s). They invited UK trade unionists to tell them how it should be done. The unions said 'For god's sake don't do it the British way'. So they didn't.

[Loosehead]

So the "red" Robbo types had nothing to do with it then eh jno? wake up, it was impossible to "manage" badly or otherwise, the Unions had total power over everything. The management where like the conductor on the Titanic.

Remember the "night shift".......... found asleep in their night wear, fired, ohers went on strike to defend the indefensible, just one example there are hundreds.

[brionon]

Are you still fighting the Germans ? The War is OVER,mate !

[Loosehead]

The war with the evil of socialsm is still being fought, brionon, they may have receded in recent times but the reds are allways just under the bed!

[jake-the-peg]

Management and workforce are equally to blame I think Loosehead's Hero worship of Magret Thatcher is somewhat clouding his objectivity.

However the last chapter of Rover verged on criminality from the Phoenix team.

It doesn't matter who owns the company, a British owned company would be just as quick to move production out of the UK if it though it would be more profitable to do so.

As Fender so rightly points out the most important factor is that we are still capable of manufacturing quality cars here even if it seems we can't run car companies any more

[mash]

I think its great there is a new Mini and it is built here in the UK.
It is still conisdered globally as British, it creates British jobs, it proves we can still do quality engineering. I don't think that's a bad result!

[Rock'n'Roll]

Looseshead:
While the unions had a lot to answer for in the car industry,the main fault lies with the crackpot cow at No10.
It wasn't just cars that went, Bikes/trucks/mines and anything else that had a Union she was opposed to. If she couldn't beat them,as with power workers/water/railways, then she flogged them off to Capitalist fat cats. While some of us care about our fellow human beings,then socialism will never die

[youngmafbog]

Of course it was anything with a Union, they were doing their damedest to bring the coutry to its knees - and very nearly succeeded.

Socialim does NOT work, it does NOT help the people it is meant to. For instance you go on about fat cats but what about fat cat Unionists - eg Scargill. Did they ever find those millions from Russia ?

And its not just Maggie, I beleive Mr Blair told Unionists they should be extinct yesterday and backed by Brown who it appears does not want to go back to the dark days of socilism.

[Loosehead]

I believe ,Rock n Roll, that Labour where in power while the country was being ran into the ground by the Unions can't blame MT for that one. It was left to Mrs T to dig us out of the sh1t created by your lefty friends. Perhaps the medicine was harsh but it needed to be administered. Now How old where you in the 70's I bet you where not even born, you probably been spoon fed pro lefty propaganda by your student friends and "right on" teachers. Ask someone who lived through the last attempt at socialism, may be a bit of an eye openner for you.

[kwicky]

The difference between Brown and Blair is that Gordon is a doer. He is unlikely to be swayed by foreign interference such as the USA and will put Britain first. A healthy change from the last few years!

[Trotbot]

I have just been meeting a senior exec at a well known car company who mentioned the reason they keep shutting plants down is that they can afford to do it, even though it is cheaper to build in the UK than in Germany or France. The issue is that it is too expensive, and often practically impossible, to shut down plants elsewhere because of the labour laws.