agoreira

And even though we were pulling out, they carried on all sorts of contracts like renewing all the perimeter fencing as it was cheaper than cancelling the contract. I left just before the withdraw, but I was told loads of our specialist aircraft equipment was buried in the middle on the airfield rather than transport it home. Without doubt the worse place I have ever been, I think I might just prefer Torrevieja to Aden.

johnnyone

Funnily enough I also had a couple of the original minis. How I managed to get into them I am not quite sure. At the time they were pretty good too.

I am fully aware who owns the Mini brand but the fact is they are made in the UK as are many Toyotas, Hondas etc.
Jaguar/Landrover is Indian owned but in my mind it doesn't make them less British.
We are now living in a global economy with shares being held by by investors in many countries. I don't believe this necessarily makes a product any less British.

bigglesworth

Thankfully - none, except perhaps a couple of niche manufacturers.

It has been many a long year since a British car company turned a profit or produced a car that anyone (other than a Zil owner) would want to drive.
And as the foreign owned now produce cars that lots of people want to drive, they make a profit - on which they pay tax. In addition to employing people who have secure jobs. And who pay lots of tax. And source lots of components in the UK (as well as abroad) from suppliers who make a profit and pay tax and employ lots of people who also pay tax etc.

And all those taxes go to pay our pensions.

So aren't we the lucky ones that British Leyland etc are not more?

VFR

Yes John you are right in that it matters not who owns the company, but it was not until Honda/BMW/Nissan etc started making cars in the UK that things changed for the better.
They had to use foreign technology & engineering to achieve this as the British car & bike industry were for the most part still using pre war parts/techniques & above all piss poor working practices overseen by piss poor management, with lets face it piss poor governments in support (see British Leyland) but of course I speak in general terms.

missile

Against all odds, Triumph motorcycles are bucking the trend. They make very good machines.

johnnyone

In the main I agree with that but much design is carried out in the UK for the multinationals.
As for as technology F1 has produced many advances that filter down to mass car production and most F1 teams are based in the UK.
I think the UK previously let itself down in quality control and complacency that is now not an issue.
The other thing is Ford, as far as I am aware, only manufacture engines and gearboxes in the UK, so these must be shipped abroad for assembly. But it still represents a significant investment in the UK.

What this has to do with the Euro I am not sure but I can only see Sterling rising in the short term and that will make our exports more expensive.

britishbull

Strange that British workers are happy to make foreign management rich but were always determined to take our homegrown fat cats down despite ruining their own industry...

Domino

remember that well ! ! !
the carpenters had a full time job making wooden props for the accelerators on the lorries which were loaded full of stores then driven out off the jetty..

our helicopters took crates of tinnies for the pongoes and brought back fridges and freezers - all had to be worked on to suit the ships mains supply.

as to the stuff we are going to leave - if there was a need for it out there then there should be a need for it in the UK, even if just for training.
if they got it out there they can get it back. no stores wallah likes to "right off" anything, no matter how battered, not working, falling apart.

I remember we had a little "tape" aerial used on man portable radios, I requisitioned 4 in a 2 year commission, seems this was unacceptably high.

So don't think there isnt someone there keeping the numbers, everything is recorded, just depends on whether the solder who dropped a bullet says he fired it or not. Its still expended one way or another, just hope it doesnt get used against you.
it looks easy after a range shooting to count out the number of spent cartridges and check against the number issued and not let anyone leave until all have been duely accounted for. Try that in a fire fight with a dozen guys shooting at you!!

agoreira

Agree, the Indian contribution is probably just money, I can't imagine much technical input from there. We can still supply that, the fact that the majority of F1 teams choose UK as a base, with British engineers means they are happy there. Agree BL were pretty crappy, but so was a lot of stuff around that time, Lancia rust buckets, Jap Crap (how they've come on!). There are a lot cheaper places to make cars than UK, so all the foreign investment is a testament to their belief in the UK work force, rather than just cheap labour. The BL days with all their strikes are long gone.

jojojojojo

The BBCs view

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18058270

Jo xxx

bigglesworth

Everything Peston says just confirms what a blithering idiot the man is.
So the BBC has finally noticed that people in Greece etc are withdrawing their funds and putting them somewhere safe. Pity the BBC did not mention this several years ago, when it started, rather than now when it is nearly over.
The interesting point fort this thread is what does this mean for Sterling Euro? It could be that the weakness of the last two years has been a result of Greeks etc buying sterling to finance their purchases of houses across London. So once they stop, the Euro could counterintuitively strengthen?
I don't see it myself, but it is I suppose possible

steviedeluxe

I wonder what is going to happen in Greece, if they do exit the Euro. No-one will want to use the replacement currency by choice (remember that everyone is expecting its value to plummet), so it will be effectively valueless. Taberna owners or exporters selling their olives, will surely demand payment in Euros (or pounds in resorts where Brits predominate). It will mean recipients of government money (and this includes police and soldiers, as well as beareaucrats, pensioners and teachers) will effectively be working for nearly nothing. Perhaps they'd be better taking the pain within the Euro? Still, they'll have the right to choose in yet another election. Whatever happens, state employees and pensioners in Greece have a very grim future.

jojojojojo

..... and how will they buy essential imports with a devalued currency???

Jo xxx

Bigger Jim

Probably in the same way that the official west german mark rate was one to one with the east mark. But the reality was one west mark to four east marks.

Jim

bigglesworth

Well, the truth is that they will buy far fewer.

But remember they will have defaulted on their loans, so no interest payment.

Also the Greek Government will be able to raise its own finance - the track record for this for countries in default is not as poor as one might think.

And of course they can always fire up the printing presses - Mervyn King is looking for a new job next summer