Manufacturing in the UK

The manufacturing industry has long held a special position for the centre-left in British politics. However, there has been a long-standing lack of clarity about why manufacturing matters, what our ambitions for the sector should be and how we can achieve them. More recently there has been a degree of wnwarranted pessimism about the sector, which has indeed suffered a particularly difficult time in the last few years.

This report provides a clear and balanced view of the role and prospects for manufacting, and the appropriate policy response from government. Broad in scope, it examines some of the key elements of economic policy as they apply to the sector including the economic framework, investment, skills, innovation and enterprise.