Reading in the paper today that David Cameron is taking a business delegation to China to follow on from his Indian visit. A bit further down an article that Jaguar – Land Rover might build a factory in China to supply the Chinese market. So how very clever of the Indian company that bought Jaguar – Land Rover. A bit more far-sighted maybe than British investors. Looking through the Made in Preston website the list of items made in this area that have fallen to overseas companies; cotton, buses, lorries and their suppliers to name a few. To a degree this has been inevitable but to the extent it has happened it seems folly and now the North West is said to be an area where people increasingly do transplanted government paperwork processing jobs that have no added value to the economy.
What are the paths for young people to start with some kind of solid vocational training, get some qualifications and maybe rise through the ranks in a company making interesting and long term products, so good they are wanted overseas and keep the food on our tables. Is it that if you are in the 50% who don’t go to university you can only get a job with little prospects. Many of those who go to university aren’t particularly academic or practical and often don’t have the grounding to get a decent job either. Sometimes starting younger at work can give you this work sense and getting qualifications while at work is a better path. Maybe I’m just old fashioned. Having started as a craft apprentice who left school with little but got an HNC, which opened some doors, then a degree with the Open University. It is a worry that the children being born today in Britain might need to be good at picking strawberries, perhaps in China.