Longbridge closure - possible future?

Okay there's been a lot of press recently about the closure of a number of car manufacturing plants in the Midlands and the local economic crisis caused by the lack of scrutiny or intervention from the Labour government in trying to rescue this industry and save jobs.

Of course one of the major reasons its been allowed to slide is the global market economy which on paper says that the UK labour finds it difficult to compete with that on offer overseas.

This may be true but its possible that we have a lot more experience and higher manufacturing standard.

With such a large chunk of skills now sitting in the unemployment queue with very little chance of finding similar roles, maybe a bit of radical thinking is required.

Unlikely, I know, given the current political climate, but if Brown wanted a vote winner this might qualify.

In the prevailing economic winds, with the UK seemingly hit hard by Labours solution to bailing out the banks, maybe its time for them to have a nationalised car manufacturer.

Instead of just turning out the same old cars to compete with the current crop, now would be an opportunity for the government to lead the way in car design in terms of safety and environmental impact.

They could be more daring in the vehicles features and, combined with the transport department, come up with a blueprint in which they could revolutionise car ownership,  road planning and traffic management and make strides ahead which other manufacturers would have to keep up with, and where would they find these specialised skills?  The UK!

If the government owned some patents too it would also be an income revenue for the country to dig itself out of debt!

I'm no economist but this doesn't sound too unreachable an ambition does it?

Eventually the country will have to make steps to address the decline in manufacturing, the national debt and restructuring the transport system to cut down on carbon emissions etc so why not try and jump a few steps ahead.  Even the Conservatives shouldn't have a problem with it as there is no British competition to speak of and eventually when its paid its dues and established itself it can be launched as a private company just like in the Thatcher years.

The thing that excites me about this thought is the possibility that many people would get their jobs back but it would also make us world leaders in the area.  The nationalised company might make higher end versions of the vehicles but then Ford or VW or whoever would then have to make cheaper more competitive versions either using our skills or at least having to pay a licensing fee to use the underlying technology to make it compatible with our unique transport infrastructure.

Surely that would stimulate the economy enough for it to be worth the risk?


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