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Labours Economic Policy Date: 10/12/2009 Industry fades under Labour   It was a devastating day for the Tees Valley on Friday with the announcement of the closure of the Corus Teesside Cast Products plant putting 1,700 people out of work. The ripple effect of this in the supply chain is estimated to be the loss of another 1,500 jobs with up to £200 million taken out of the local economy in the next year. The loss of engineering and manufacturing skills and exporting capacity is a further diminution of Britain’s industrial base which has declined alarmingly under New Labour. Lets look at some facts. The importance of manufacturing to the economy declined more rapidly under Labour administrations since 1997 than it did during the Margaret Thatcher era, according to a recent Financial Times study of data held by the Office for National Statistics. Manufacturing accounted for more than 20 per cent of the economy in 1997, when Labour came to power critical of the country having too narrow an industrial base. By 2007, that share had declined to 12.4 per cent and today is estimated to be around 11 per cent. Although the recession of the early 1980s dealt a permanent blow to the industrial heartlands, the relative devastation of manufacturing during the past 12 years has been almost three times faster. The near halving of the importance of manufacturing to the economy over 12 years is in stark contrast to the reduction from 25.8 per cent to 22.5 per cent of output under the Conservative governments of the 1980s. Labour still cite the 1980s as the period when the economy changed. The truth is that our economy has changed dramatically for the worse under New Labour stewardship over the last 12 years. Today, we have a completely unbalanced economy. While the recession has dealt a heavy blow to manufacturing it has also hit the poorest regions hardest. A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds that poverty is rising across the country. Doctor Peter Kenway, director of the New Policy Institute and co-author of the report says: "On the core subjects of low income and employment the picture is bleak exacerbated by taxing those on low income into poverty. In particular it is not just a question of ‘recovering from the recession’, since things started to go seriously wrong as long ago as 2004.” As we face the future it is not clear how the UK will earn its living in the years to come. It is certain that it cannot return to the failed economic model that Labour employed in recent years: being an exporter of finance and a consumer of imports racking up massive balance of payment debt. A new model needs to emerge. Britain needs to find a sustainable path forward: one where the UK makes more, sells more and saves more. This is why manufacturing matters and why the loss of high tech steel making in our region is a such a major blow. It is vital at the next election that New Labour, having reduced the nation to penury, are removed from office and replaced by a government that can find a way for Britain to earn its living in the world.   Cllr Alan Coultas Economy Spokeman - Darlington Borough Council Conservative Group