Is the UK government doing enough for UK industry?
Yesterday's revelation of 1,700 job losses at steel giant Corus together with more job losses at Lloyd's bank have prompted a number of questions regarding the UK government's role in protecting UK industry. While Lord Mandelson has grabbed the headlines with his attack on US food giant Kraft Foods, and its bid for UK chocolate maker Cadbury, where is the real help and where is the real financial assistance for the UK economy?
As we covered yesterday, the attack by Lord Mandelson on those looking to "acquire Cadbury on the cheap" is nothing but a PR stunt because the UK government cannot block any potential acquisition of Cadbury on price alone. There needs to be competition issues, or other unspecified issues which need to be addressed, before the UK government can even think of stepping in. So why did Lord Mandelson step into the Cadbury saga?
Purely and simply the UK government needs to be seen to be doing the right thing and it needs to be seen in the public eye more and more. Let's not forget this is the same government which poured billions upon billions of pounds into the banking industry, and then gave the banks full control, has left the UK car market to disintegrate, has let foreign suitors acquire the vast majority of the UK energy sector and ultimately done very little to protect UK industry over the last decade.
Share this..
Related stories
How can the Bank of England increase mortgage liquidity?
Only 24 hours ago it seemed certain that the Bank of England was to introduce a fee of around 0.25% on funds held on behalf of UK banks with the Bank of England. However, today Mervyn King has denied these allegations and confirmed there are no immediate plans to change the interest received on money held with the Bank of England on behalf of UK banks. So how can the Bank of England now increase l...
Read MoreTreat yourself, but within limits!
If you take the time to sit back and monitor where your monthly income is spent and where it disappears to you may be surprised to learn exactly what you get for your money. There is no doubt that significant funding is "wasted" across the UK from takeaways to sky TV, from over expenditure in the shops to uneconomic telephone deals. However, while wasting money does seem a shame there are occasion...
Read MoreCar manufacturers make hay while the sun shines
The UK government has today announced that just under 155,000 cars have been acquired by UK motorists under the car scrappage scheme. This is the scheme which allows vehicles aged 10 years or over to be scrapped in exchange for a £2000 discount on a new vehicle. The idea is that by scrapping the less efficient vehicles and replacing them with more efficient vehicles there will be a significant im...
Read MoreRecession hits the UK early
News that the European Commission believes that the UK will slip into a technical recession during the last two quarters of 2008 is not good news for Gordon Brown. Not only is the likelihood of a full blown recession more prominent than ever before (since the days of John Major in fact) but the authorities will have 3 or 4 months of bad news before the recession is actually confirmed and then mor...
Read MoreIs it possible to control economic cycles?
While Gordon Brown once famously professed to ending the economic boom and bust cycle, he was later shown to be foolish in his assumption that economic cycles can be controlled to that particular degree. But is it possible to control economic cycles to any degree?
The truth is that economic cycles can in many ways be controlled to some degree but ultimately they are the brainchild o...