Buy British - Do you, would you, should you?

[Eater Sundae]

You're essentially talking about protectionism.

In general this is not in the long term interests of the countries involved either in terms of economic growth or keeping the peace.

Buying more expensive or inferior home country produce does more harm than good to the economy as money is being wasted.

Countries that trade heavily with each other are less likely to get into armed conflict. Therefore more foreign trade in either direction = more peace.

Just bear that in mind.

 

Sometimes of course the best value comes from your home country's product. Then it's a no-brainer.

 

I totally agree that buying an inferior British product simply because it is British would, in the long term, do more harm than good, as it encourages them to continue producing the rubbish. (I'm talking big value items like cars, white goods etc, - I'm not so sure about smaller, local products like food, where we might choose British made for reasons such as air miles). However, I think this is rarely an issue nowadays, as international trade pressures force everyone's standards up. Where products are otherwise equal, I think it is a positive move to buy British.

 

We used to have a buy British campaign. I'd like to see it again. I don't see it as particularly protectionist. What do others think? Do other EU countries have equivalent campaigns?

[Dardandec]

I often buy British by accident at the charity and 2nd hand shops.

 

You don't go out of your way to help create British wealth/jobs but then spend all your life on here complaining about a lack of social housing, austerity and benefit cuts.

 

I am seriously thinking chem that you think money grows on trees. You kill me man.

[Anna B]

I would like to buy British, if I knew what we actually make any more.

 

We used to make several British cars, but no longer. What happened? The workforce is often takes the blame for being lazy etc, but Nissan seem to manage them alright...

 

Could it be, perish the thought, lack of government support, poor management, greedy sellouts, dodgy deals and lack of leadership at the top that is responsible for the demise of Britain's car industry.... Let's just not mention the sale of Rover for £1...

[JFKvsNixon]

I would like to buy British, if I knew what we actually make any more.

 

We used to make several British cars, but no longer. What happened? The workforce is often takes the blame for being lazy etc, but Nissan seem to manage them alright...

 

Could it be, perish the thought, lack of government support, poor management, greedy sellouts, dodgy deals and lack of leadership at the top that is responsible for the demise of Britain's car industry.... Let's just not mention the sale of Rover for £1...

 

It was £10 actually, and to be fair, when you consider the state of Rover, I think that they did well to get that much. They were also paid a £500 million dowry that included unsold stock by BMW on completing the deal.

[Dardandec]

British assembled cars are second to none nowadays using mainly British and European manufactured parts. The Leyland/Austin days are long gone with their poor build quality and strikes, Long long before my time . But there is more to British manufacturing and industry than cars believe it or not A lot of people cant see past the mining industry

[TJC1]

This list is too simplistic though when trying to work out which is a British car. Some Vauxhalls are made here and sold here. Some are made here and sold in Europe as Opel. Some are made in Europe in Opel factories and sold here as Vauxhalls. Some Nissans are made here and some aren't. All the large manufacturers are global companies with plants in many places so we can't say that any brand is British or any other nationality if we are thinking about the locations of the factory and the employees.

 

This should help though - http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/car-buyers-guide/cbg-cars-made-in-britain.html

 

Mini? I dont know if its still made here but its a british brand. Same rover.

 

---------- Post added 26-07-2015 at 12:13 ----------

 

I would like to buy British, if I knew what we actually make any more.

 

We used to make several British cars, but no longer. What happened? The workforce is often takes the blame for being lazy etc, but Nissan seem to manage them alright...

 

Could it be, perish the thought, lack of government support, poor management, greedy sellouts, dodgy deals and lack of leadership at the top that is responsible for the demise of Britain's car industry.... Let's just not mention the sale of Rover for £1...

 

We dont export enough. Costs are high and productivity low. We have an excellent manufacturing heritage but have allowed japan, china and germany to overtake us.

 

---------- Post added 26-07-2015 at 12:16 ----------

 

I totally agree that buying an inferior British product simply because it is British would, in the long term, do more harm than good, as it encourages them to continue producing the rubbish. (I'm talking big value items like cars, white goods etc, - I'm not so sure about smaller, local products like food, where we might choose British made for reasons such as air miles). However, I think this is rarely an issue nowadays, as international trade pressures force everyone's standards up. Where products are otherwise equal, I think it is a positive move to buy British.

 

We used to have a buy British campaign. I'd like to see it again. I don't see it as particularly protectionist. What do others think? Do other EU countries have equivalent campaigns?

 

Well we are encouraged to think european these days. Its hard to find a trully british product in all aspects. I think we all would like to see more brits working on british products though.

 

---------- Post added 26-07-2015 at 12:21 ----------

 

Still some great brit cars about

Mclaren

Aston martin

Land rover

Jaguar

TVR

Lotus

MG

[unbeliever]

This is still all protectionism.

 

Buy whatever is the best product at the best price for your purposes, otherwise you're doing more harm than good.

Subsidies and tariffs are also destructive.

 

Free trade is desperately important. It is the main ingredient in peace and prosperity. Everything else is secondary.

 

The UK is a service dominated economy. Simple trade balance calculations don't apply. Keep personal debt and state debt under sensible control and preserve free trade at almost any cost. Otherwise you're heading for disaster.

[wrinkly67]

Really?! I hadn’t really considered Japanese cars. My opinion comes from experience of owning both a Vauxhall (which I assume was British at some point earlier on?!) and a Volkswagen from almost new. Also, having had a Ford (again, this was British once I believe) which broke down consistently! The VW has given us very few problems, and has never broken down, whereas the Corsa was nothing but trouble…

 

Thanks for that though - We're going to need a small reliable second car in October, and I might just look into the Jazz

 

would certainly back how good the Jazz is. On our second, the first we had for about 4 years and liked it so much we bought same again. This one now a similar age. Never had any trouble with either (fingers crossed!). Lovely drive, good boot space for small car.

[illuminati9]

Don't see the point as most factory are staff by foreigners

[Anna B]

This is still all protectionism.

 

Buy whatever is the best product at the best price for your purposes, otherwise you're doing more harm than good.

Subsidies and tariffs are also destructive.

 

Free trade is desperately important. It is the main ingredient in peace and prosperity. Everything else is secondary.

The UK is a service dominated economy. Simple trade balance calculations don't apply. Keep personal debt and state debt under sensible control and preserve free trade at almost any cost. Otherwise you're heading for disaster.

 

What free trade?

 

It's all tied up in legislation, licences, permits, embargoes, sanctions, deals, exchange rates, government red tape, taxes, and, as you say, subsidies and tariffs.

 

Trade hasn't been really free in a long time...