TUC Briefing: The mythical “march of the makers”

The mythical “march of the makers”: In his 2011 Budget speech, George Osborne said he wanted “a Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers.” However, a new TUC analysis shows that manufacturing’s proportion of GDP has flatlined at 10.1% of GDP for the past six years. Our foundation industries are losing jobs, plant and investment at an alarming rate as imports substitute home production. These industries - iron and steel, chemicals, cement and lime, paper and pulp, ceramics, glass, basic metals and others - form the UK's industrial heartland, yet face extraordinary demands from the UK's energy and climate change policies. An incoming government will need to develop a comprehensive strategy for their growth and development in a low carbon economy.