Budget 2010: Labour forgot industry for 13 years | Business | The Guardian‏

Lots of lefties really get all teary eyed at the thought of manufacturing. To say I'm not from that background would be like saying the Tory front bench aren't starving, so I can't speak from experience. I don't know if workers are as enthusiastic about primary industry as lefty intellectuals. I certainly know that lots of lefties wish we had mining back as it was before 84, without stopping to consider the lives of the poor bastards down the pits and those connected to them. Those poor bastards may have loved it then and wish it was back, I don't know.
I know that manufacturing is important, and that we should look to Germany for how to run a high-wage, welfare-state European economy. They kick arse in a way that we would lightly tap upon a behind, and it needs addressing. It's one of the great failings of Labour since 97, and lessons need learning. And one is that a Tory is a Tory, the Tory press are fair-weather friends and not to be trusted. Extrapolate the point and it's the same.

"The recession, despite having its origins deep in the banking sector, has made the structural weaknesses of the economy even more pronounced. Manufacturing output is down by 13% since early 2008, while investment in plant and machinery has been cut by a third. Job losses have been greatest in those regions that have the highest concentration of real rather than financial engineering, leaving them even more dependent on the state for employment opportunities"
Well exactly, we have a structurally weak economy in a way that Germany is far more robust.

"Austin believes the long tradition of craftsmanship in the West Midlands could make it the manufacturing hub of a low carbon economy."
And I agree.