Decline began with a national 'burglary'
The present monetary problem has been brewing for a number of years. It is not something that has magically appeared.
The present monetary problem has been brewing for a number of years. It is not something that has magically appeared.
I left school for the world of work some 60 years ago, just after the end of the Second World War. Like my friends, I obtained an apprenticeship, in my case as a model-maker and patternmaker, working in the industry. At that time this country's balance of payments with the rest of the world was very strong.
Our industrial base accounted for 85 per cent to 88 per cent of the income of our strong economy; the rest came from the banking and insurance sectors.
At that time our industrial base was run either by those who owned the company, or managers who had full knowledge of the operations of the businesses, obtained through years of experience.
All companies paid into a training levy scheme, and those who did the training were able to obtain money to part-pay for this training. As a result of the Government's shortsighted view, this scheme was scrapped. Training, to all intents and purposes, ceased.
Companies were later to have appointed to the board people who knew the cost of everything but unfortunately the value of nothing (accountants). This was the start of our decline as an industrial nation.
These people were unable to understand how best to use the money at their disposal. We started to see a large increase in administration staff and people overpaid for the job they were doing, hence the rising costs virtually killed off our industrial base.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s companies started being bought up by organisations intent only on asset stripping.
Lord Denning, with whom I agree, said at the time this was tantamount to burglary. Machinery was sold off to countries abroad.
We were told there was no demand for the product, but we now buy the produce made with this machinery.
As a result of our membership of the EU the remark attributed to Napoleon that "we are a country of shopkeepers" has come true.
D Winterborn, Broadlands Drive, Dudley.
