MARK Wolstenholme has hit the nail on the head, by highlighting the facts regarding our dwindling manufacturing base. The textile industry was the poorest paid, and yet was in the front line of the Thatcher shake out 20 years ago. So much for us textile workers being paid too much! Then there are firms that have closed down completely, such as Bellhouse Hartwell.
What really annoys me is the present property boom, even in these parts. How can there be a boom when so many jobs are being lost? What is the logic in demolishing factories and building houses on the sites? Is there more money in housing? Logic dictates that a service industry which only circulates money, has surely to rely on manufacturing which creates money. The money has to come from somewhere.
Jobs like shelf stacking at Sainburys or ASDA cannot be equated with engineering jobs, paywise. The jobs may well be nicer and easier, but the pay certainly won't get anyone on to the property ladder. As Mr Wolstenholme says, the youngsters of the very near future will soon be destitute, but, like in the past, warnings like ours will fall on deaf ears and blind eyes.
B Howarth
Alexandria Drive
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