Manufacturing demand hits 30-year high – but still Eeyore Hammond talks Britain down
MANUFACTURING demand has surged to its highest level in 30 years thanks to the Brexit fall in the pound.
A survey by the Confederation of British Industry revealed that order books were more buoyant than at any time since 1988, when coal and steel were still a major part of the national economy.
It came amid growing speculation that Britain could be set for a rise in interest rates – with one bank saying the Bank of England could act as soon as August.
The CBI figures suggest manufacturing will continue to grow for the immediate future, helping cushion any impact from a slowdown in consumer spending. But they didn’t stop ‘gloomy’ Chancellor Philip Hammond from calling for a four-year transitional deal with the EU after Brexit to ‘get businesses investing in the UK again’.
Global growth is partly responsible for boosting the sector, but its fortunes have been particularly helped by the sterling’s weakness since the EU referendum.
The currency has fallen nearly 14 per cent against the dollar in the past year, making UK exporters ultra- competitive because foreign buyers have to pay far less for their goods. It also boosts sales at home because imports are now more expensive and some firms have started buying British goods as a result.
Howard Archer, of the Ernst & Young Item Club economic group, said: ‘The June CBI industrial trends survey looks highly
‘Highly encouraging across the board’
encouraging across the board. Total order books are reported to be at the best level for nearly 29 years, with the strength spread across sectors. This points to healthy domestic demand despite concerns of a stuttering UK economy.’ Order growth was strongest in the chemicals and food, drink and tobacco sectors, according to the CBI.
It comes as Japanese lender Nomura said the Bank of England could increase interest rates at its next meeting in August. It believes the Bank is concerned about rising inflation and will act to rein it in.
Mr Hammond last night stood accused of talking Britain down after he warned businesses would start investing only if we remain tied to Brussels after Brexit.
The Chancellor said he would like the UK to sign a transitional deal with the EU for as many as four years after Brexit, adding that it was in the interests of both the UK and the EU that there was an early agreement to ensure there was no ‘cliff edge’ break when the UK finally leaves in 2019.
The comments will infuriate Eurosceptic Tory MPs who have been pressing for a swift break with the EU. They point out that the Chancellor’s wish for a transitional deal would leave firms under the control of the European Court of Justice for years.
Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries said last night: ‘Mr Hammond has always been a bit of a gloomy Chancellor.
‘The order books of British factories have reached an all-time high.
‘Unemployment is at its lowest and foreign businesses are making the decision to stay and to invest in the UK.’
ONE year ago today, the British people – by an emphatic majority – voted to free this country from the shackles of Brussels and restore sovereignty to Parliament.
So for all 17.4million who voted Leave – and the millions of others who have come to accept the result – Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech was an event of great significance.
Containing no fewer than eight Brexit bills, it set out in broad strokes the vast array of powers which over four decades have been hijacked by EU bureaucrats and will now be returned to this country.
These laws will restore our control over agriculture and fishing, long dominated by French and Spanish interests. They will restore our power over trade, allowing us to make deals with the whole world and not just a sclerotic, economically static EU.
They will also end suffocating rule by unelected European judges, while an Immigration Bill will end free movement and allow this country once again to choose who it wants to let in and keep out.
Such a freedom cannot come a day too soon. For yesterday official figures revealed that last year the UK population rose by 538,000 (the equivalent of a city the size of Bradford), the biggest increase since the baby boom year of 1947.
So the Queen’s Speech should have been a cause for celebration for everyone who believes in Britain. But instead, despite Theresa May’s valiant attempts to call for unity, it was overshadowed by threats to Brexit from all the usual suspects.
In the House of Lords, unelected peers from Labour and the Lib Dems (a party with a pathetic 12 MPs) are plotting to block or amend Brexit bills. Meanwhile, the SNP is demanding a separate vote in the Scottish Parliament on repealing EU laws.
There are also rumblings of rebellion from a tiny number of Tory MPs. To them we say: rock the boat on Brexit and you risk handing control of this country to a Marxist.
The Remoaners demand that Britain stay in the single market. For the Daily Mail this would be the worst of all worlds, meaning continued free movement, continued rule by European judges, and a vast annual fee.
It would represent a profound betrayal of both the referendum – the greatest democratic exercise in this country’s history – and the general election. The ineluctable truth is that nearly 85 per cent of votes on June 8 went to parties which promised to honour the referendum result and, explicitly, to end free movement.