
Car industry investment plummets in UK - belltaco
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49170387
======
Merrill
A healthy steel industry would seem to be fundamental to having a healthy auto
industry. But the UK's steel industry is in trouble as well.

[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/22/what-
went-w...](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/22/what-went-wrong-
at-british-steel)

"The UK steel industry has been in decline for some time because of a variety
of factors such as overcapacity in EU steelmaking and Chinese state-subsidised
firms flooding the global market with cheap product. An industry that employed
323,000 people in 1971 now employs less than a tenth of that, at 31,900. The
closure of the Redcar steelworks in 2015 was a significant blow to the sector
and left the UK with only two blast furnace steelworks, which make steel from
raw materials: Scunthorpe and Tata Steel-owned Port Talbot in south Wales.
There are also four electric arc furnaces in the UK, which make products from
recycled steel. There are three of these sites in Sheffield and one in
Cardiff."

~~~
mytailorisrich
It's worth noting that the EU wanted to impose (higher?) tariffs on Chinese
steel because of state subsidies and dumping.

One country led a campaign against it... The UK.

Then both Scunthorpe and Port Talbot areas voted in favour of Brexit.

~~~
Zenst
Wasn't this 14 countries and about the "lesser duty" rules? However some
articles do paint different pictures with the same facts - for example
[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/01/steel-
crisi...](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/01/steel-crisis-uk-
accused-blocking-eu-attempts-regulate-chinese-dumping) makes it sound like it
was all the UK's fault based upon opinion. However, reading non-left learning
media upon the same facts yields a different picture.

Though I may of missed something - please could you point a source that shows
that the UK was the only country to vote to keep cheap Chinese steel imports?
Asking as I thought this was actually 14 countries, and about some import duty
rule that covers many things above and beyond, cheap steel.

~~~
mytailorisrich
OK, maybe the UK wasn't the only one (I edited my previous comment), but the
overall point remains when I read things like the following (article you
linked to) from the European Steel Association (are they left-leaning?):

"The fact is that the UK has been blocking this. They are not the only member
state, but they are certainly the ringleader in blocking the lifting of the
lesser duty rule,"

Taking into account that many small EU countries don't have a steel industry
so may not have a strong view beyond wanting cheap steel.

Then, the results of the EU referendum are public facts. The areas mentioned
heavily voted for Brexit.

~~~
Zenst
As for Brexit or whatever it is called in the annals of history. The UK has
always been a divided country when it comes to the whole EU project. Which
has, as voting history has shown seen many a EU initiative squashed to the UK
and its political influences with other members to rally behind it.

Way to look at it is, if the EU was a company and the UK was an employee.
Would you want to keep that negative vibe employee who wasn't really towing
the company ethos, or just let them go?

------
spants
If the £1bn investment from Jaguar-Land Rover IS included, then investment is
on a par with 2017 and better than 2018.

Also, this is the real story: Spoiler: It's not Brexit

[https://www.businessinsider.com/automobile-car-industry-
prod...](https://www.businessinsider.com/automobile-car-industry-production-
global-recession-2019-2?r=US&IR=T)

~~~
imeron
I guess Brexit is a great blame if you want to close a factory.

Even-though, after-Brexit UK won't be part of the EU. A UK factory will export
cars to the EU with mandatory customs fee and taxes. If your cars have to
clear customs anyway why not build them in Ukraine?

~~~
Zenst
Indeed, brexit (though America don't call independence day Amexit!) for many
hasn't happened and what we have is a case of still being in the EU and many
trying to chuck everything in the way to keep us there. So really it's more
how the leave process is being derailed left and left-again, that has and does
cause the issue. After all, until it happens, everything is based upon
perception and pushing a doom picture utterly suits those who wish to not
leave the EU.

Put another way, nobody blamed joining the EU for the demise of way more
manufacturing and indeed the coal industry. Yet that is what happened. Cheaper
EU coal imports, then eventual erosion of manufacturing bit by bit. But that
gets overlooked oddly enough.

Still the UK shifted from manufacturing to services, albeit many EU trade
deals and indeed their own members, kinda fall foul in how they handle
services with the EU actually looking at punishing members for not opening up
their services market.

But in fairness, whilst the EU is not perfect - nothing is perfect.

~~~
blaser-waffle
> Indeed, brexit (though America don't call independence day Amexit!)

The US never voted to leave the EU; they were never part of the EU, and openly
fought against the French in the 7 Years War. The US voted to leave the
_British_ Empire -- and fought a war for it (with some French help later, of
course).

Nearest I can tell Brexit is a confluence of UK Conservatives and foreign
interests spreading Agi-Prop to A) enrich themselves at the expense of the UK
as a whole, B) to split the UK from the EU in a geo-political sense, and C)
to, in all likelihood, crush the UK economy.

> Put another way, nobody blamed joining the EU for the demise of way more
> manufacturing and indeed the coal industry. Yet that is what happened.
> Cheaper EU coal imports, then eventual erosion of manufacturing bit by bit.
> But that gets overlooked oddly enough.

Coal was on the way out regardless of European integration. The US was never
in the EU and coal still vanished; Donald Trump pandering to the coal industry
is not and will not bring it back. Likewise, staying out of the EU would have
been, at best, a temporary stay of execution for the UK coal industry.

------
growlist
The BBC in 2019: ignores the the barbaric suppression of the Gilets Jaunes
protests; gives comprehensive coverage on the protests in Hong Kong.

Treat with scepticism.

~~~
toby-
You're kidding, right? The BBC have extensively covered the _gilets jaunes_ ,
including the response of the police and government. They've interviewed
protesters, interviewed police, written lengthy articles examining the
cause(s) of the protests, and indeed published articles covering the police's
tactics throughout the events.

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-
sh/yellow_vests](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/yellow_vests)

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-
europe-48154777](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48154777)

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-
europe-46917989](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46917989)

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-
europe-48983089](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48983089)

etc. You can find hundreds of additional articles. It's absurd how more and
more frivolous and meritless these attacks on the BBC are becoming as time
goes on.

One further point. You may not be referring to this, but the claim the BBC
were suppressed from covering the protests was a debunked claim originating on
4chan ([https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/28/bbc-ordered-stop-reporting-
ye...](https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/28/bbc-ordered-stop-reporting-yellow-vest-
protests-8402611/)).

~~~
samdoidge
Your links are months old. The Hong Kong protests have much great coverage on
the front page than the protests in France currently.

~~~
toby-
Of course they are mostly older articles; the protests have dwindled to the
mere hundreds, down from over 300,000 nationwide. During the height of the
protests, they were covered extensively by the BBC -- it's misleading to
criticise their coverage with "BBC in 2019".

The BBC's latest article, which I linked, was 14 July. The BBC aren't alone in
this: it's also the most recent French protest to be covered by Reuters, CNN,
and other major news organisations.

The Hong Kong protests are still a major, significant event. The French
protests have dwindled and are no longer as relevant.

