EC Meeting Papers January 2018

The recent trend is to reduce the trade deficit. The total difference between imports and exports has gone down by £2.1billion to £6.2billion in the three months to November 2017. Significantly, this figure has been reduced due to an increase of non-EU country exports rising by 5.3 percent (£2.3billion). Manufacturing company order books at the end of 2017 were higher than they have been since 1988. An ONS spokesperson said: “The trade deficit narrowed in the last three months, due mainly to increased exports of services, shipments of works of art and cars. He went on: “Over the last year exports of goods, particularly cars, machinery and crude oil, have continued to increase, and at a faster rate than imports." In the three months to November 2017 the volume of production in the heavy industries is estimated to have risen by 1.2 percent compared with the three months to August 2017. There was strong growth in manufacturing in the same period, as it rose by 3.9 percent with renewable energy projects, boats, aeroplanes and cars for export all boosting figures to their best for ten years. Unsurprisingly this has had knock on benefits in the pay packets of manufacturing workers. As the Bank of England reported at the end of 2017 they found that shortages of labour across the manufacturing sector were leading to a “slight increase in pay growth” that would take average rate of pay rises up by half a percent, from 2-3% in 2017 to 2.5%-3.5% in 2018. The Royal Society has reported Britain spends a lower percentage of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) R&D than practically all comparative countries. However, linked now to the new industrial strategy is a commitment to raise this to 2.4% of GDP in ten years and 3% in the longer term. When the latest figures were gathered in 2015 it was only 1.68%. This trend is welcome and set alongside the apprenticeship levy and some other developments gives unions an opportunity to push for more upskilling and growth in real sustainable jobs in greener industries. Once the shackles of EU membership are lifted on such things as procurement, public spending limits, state aid and so on, a faster revival of production will become far more possible. This may not entertain the liberal elites and the banks, but it will be life or death for the country and the rebirth of a real economy based on producing things, science, technology and high skill.