LOW VOLTAGE IS NOT SAFE

John Boydell - Friday, 19 May 2023

As always, I’m not on anybody’s “side” politically, just trying to champion common sense.

We’ve just had the news that one of the biggest car makers in the world, #Stellantis, parent company of Vauxhall is considering moving away from Britain for mass car manufacturing. In a submission to the Business and Trade Committee in the Commons, the company said that current arrangements under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement were a “threat to our export business and the sustainability of our UK manufacturing operations”. Other manufacturers have expressed similar concerns, now and for some considerable time. Shock, horror! Well no, not really, it’s just poor arrangements, negotiated by Boris Johnson and announced as a triumph and “great for Britain” bumping up against reality and logic. You’d have to snigger at the bumbling incompetence of all this if it didn’t have a deadly-serious side. Mass manufacturers employ masses of people in, generally, well paid jobs. The salaries from those jobs pay their mortgages and their spending pays other people’s mortgages and so on. Their taxes also pay for the things society needs.

Reality and its unavoidable consequences are stripping away the regularly used political camouflage of lofty rhetoric, implying that behind the scenes great minds are at work on action plans that will resolve any short-term niggles and put #Britain in its rightful place at the forefront of the world. Toning this approach down, Number 10, commenting on the threat said, “We continue to want to work closely with the #EU to find a solution to this problem”. That, believe it or not, is progress. It’s, in effect, acknowledgement that there is a problem, when previously the approach was to deny any issues were arising from Brexit and its consequent arrangements. I keep saying that solutions to problems are, in order: acknowledge the reality of the problem; plan a solution (and negotiate, as required); and implement. Mass manufacturing industries threatening to move their work abroad can seriously threaten not only the economy but votes, and votes really attract the attention of politicians. The Government’s planning, hitherto, has been dire, for it denied there was a problem. Now we’ve got the “problem” barrier out of the way (at least on mass car manufacturing), let’s see how the planning comes through in the next few weeks. Such plans, if they materialise, will need to be real-world, workable and negotiated in a calm and respectful way (there’s no room or patience left for the Johnson/Truss/Frost “Johnny Foreigner’s fault!” style of negotiation). The Government’s made a belated start on reality. Let’s see how it gets on (but it had better hurry, for Stellantis and others will be planning ahead, now).

What’s the opposition up to on the threat of departures in the motor industry? It’s an irony that Nigel Farage can say “Brexit has failed” but the opposition (and the Government) cannot. Sir Keir Starmer has been commenting this week. “…. we need a better Brexit deal. We will make Brexit work. That doesn’t mean reversing the decision and going back into the EU…”. Still timid about those Red Wall votes, eh? So, we have acceptance that there’s a problem with arrangements that are not working but again, no plan, other than an indication that whatever plan comes along it will be a form of “better Brexit”. Sir Keir, you’re going to have to do a lot more than that. “Better Brexit”, sounds like soap powder advertising, and it definitely isn’t a plan. ￡28 billion and some (well, a little) flesh on the bone about a green industries plan showed some promise but “Better Brexit”? Have another go, man – you want to be Prime Minister!

I remark, from time to time, that if you took the politics out of solutions to problems and just left it to business, applying common sense, you’d have better results. So, let’s ask Stellantis. What’s its view of a solution to make it and other manufacturers keep their investments in Britain? ““We need to reinforce the competitiveness of the UK by establishing battery production in the UK.” Yes, we do. British Volt was championed by the Government as a trailblazer for where Britain was heading but collapsed in the face of Brexit realities (something acknowledged quietly by even some Tory MPs). What will bring about the needed battery production in the UK? PM and Keir, I’ll give you a hand, it’s the same stuff as always attracted investment into mass manufacturing: ease of trade; rule of law; supportive government; access to skilled labour; and competitive taxes. You’ll need an urgent approach and perception, too, the low-voltage approach used so far is not safe. Oh, and a wheel is round, so better not to try to reinvent it.