Figures from Britain’s largest trade union, the GMB, have this week revealed that 100,600 jobs in the manufacturing sector have left the North West over the last 12 years.
In 2007, the North West supported 448,300 permanent and temporary manufacturing jobs, but by 2019, that figure had slumped to 347,700 – a dramatic 22% drop.
The GMB Union pinned the blame on the Conservatives, pointing the finger at the parties’ failure to invest in British jobs since the financial crash of 2008.
“Under their watch, vital contracts are being sent overseas at the expense of industries including shipbuilding and renewables manufacturing,” said Julie Brimble, the National Secretary for the GMB.
“The absence of any kind of industrial strategy, coupled with a complete lack of investment is robbing a whole generation of their futures.”
The new statistics put the North West as the second worst hit region in the UK behind London (30%), with the West Midlands (19%) making up the top three.
The figures come as a hammer blow to those who believed the manufacturing sector was experiencing an overdue resurgence last year. The Financial Times reported that 145,000 manufacturing jobs were created between 2013 and 2018; the longest period of sustained growth since the mid-nineties.
The steady rundown of manufacturing in northern England and the Midlands, which began in the 1960s, has been cited by politicians as an important factor influencing Britons to vote for Brexit in the 2016 referendum.
Smoke & mirrors: the image of the @Conservatives campaign launch versus the reality. #GE2019 #ToryLies pic.twitter.com/9qBALgwyFk
— GMB W&SW Politics (@GMBWSWPolitics) November 7, 2019
Decades of economic decline in former industrial areas helped drive public resentment of the status quo.
With major political parties yet to release their manifestos ahead of the December 12 election, how they plan to resolve the consistent under-reliance on British manufacturing remains murky.
However the GMB has been clear in their support for an incumbent Labour-led government, stating that former industrial communities are crying out for the green revolution that the party has pushed for since 2017.
