Liberal Democrats in Business

News and views from the Lib Dem Trade and Industry Team, Vince Cable and Brian Cotter

95% OF SMALL BUSINESSES DESPAIR OF LABOUR'S MANUFACTURING POLICY

1.05.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 9th May 2003

Today, the Engineering and Machinery Alliance (EAMA) released a report entitled "UK Manufacturing in Transition - the Impact of the Two-Tier Economy" that reveals that 95% of small and medium sized businesses do not to support the Government's policies relating to the sector.

Vincent Cable MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow DTI Secretary, said: "As the manufacturing sector has lost 500,000 under Labour, it is no surprise that there is little support from businesses in the sector for the Government's approach to manufacturing. Indeed, you could be forgiven for believing there was no Government manufacturing policy at all."

"It is very clear that the manufacturing industry has been enormously disadvantaged relative to its European counterparts by the uncompetitive and volatile British currency in recent years.

"If Gordon Brown is determined to say "no" and Euro entry is rejected, then it is imperative that he tell British manufacturing industry precisely how he intends to tackle this crisis. With 500,000 jobs lost, saying nothing is not an option."

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[Other news stories from May 2003 (38)]

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Wed 21st Apr 2004:

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Wed 17th Mar 2004:

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Mon 8th Mar 2004:

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Mon 9th Feb 2004:

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Mon 14th Jul 2003:

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Mon 19th May 2003:

[KPMG REPORT: 77% OF SMALL BUSINESSES LACK CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT POLICY]

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