Why is buying British seen as not a good thing ?

[weeksy]

There's an interesting thread about Orange bikes in cycling section which made me think about how "buying British" isn't actually seen as a good thing, some see it as being all racist, brexity, etc... Whereas in say France, buying French stuff is seen as supporting your economy, in America, buying American is obviously massively popular... but over here it's somehow seen as wrong.

Nowdays in the UK we 'make' a lot lot less than we did 30-40 years ago... Now we can sit here and blame the government (i'd rather not go down that though) but the reality is also that we as British don't really buy our own stuff in the same way do we..

Why is this... and what if anything can/should we do about it. ?

[Count Steer]

Some of it's historical reputation I guess. British Leyland etc.

The next question is.....what do we still make???

Just had a look around and wondered how much of the stuff in the house was made here and how much could be replaced by stuff made here. Furniture, carpets, kettle, toaster...then it gets tricky.

I do buy (some) clothes and (some) shoes from companies that make them here and I'd be delighted to buy more things 'Made in GB' but it's pretty difficult.

[Mussels]

If I heard anyone saying buying British was racist my first thought would be 'what importer do they work for?'.

I'd be happy to buy made in UK or made in EU but at the moment it's hard to find things that aren't made in China without being more specific.

[KungFooBob]

I'm not anti-british products, but I do balance the cost/quality of whatever I buy.

Has anyone ever said "I don't want a Dualit toaster because they're made in the UK" rather than "I don't want one because they're too expensive"?

[Mr. Dazzle]

My Toaster is British Made in London no less, no prizes for guessing the brand.

My food mixer is too, made just down the road from where I grew up.

Stereo as well.

And my shoes. "Lanx", made in Lancashire. Took me ages to spot that pun.

Mrs Ds Honda was made in Swindon.

[KungFooBob]

I've got four pairs of Loakes, but I think the one pair of 'Styles'
or 'Designs' (I forget which range it is) are made in India to Loakes QA standards, or something.

[Mr. Dazzle]

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[KungFooBob]

Lordy, you have women's feet!

[DefTrap]

Not heard of buying British as racisty, assumed everyone would be good with buying locally if possible for all sorts of reasons. Probably another Telegraph attempt to rouse the rabble

I think in the recent past some British made goods may have had a reputation for being outdated and crappily made, whereas foreign goods (not China) retained some mystical cachet. British manufacturing has struggled on by occupying the luxury market, the Veblen good.

But genuinely struggling to think of anything I own that shouts British provenance.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Lordy, you have women's feet!

Means I can get all the best heels though

I have probably a slightly different attitude to / experience of British manufacturing. People often say "we don't make anything in this country" but I've spent the best part of 20 years now working for British companies who make stuff I've never not worked for a British company who design and make their own stuff.

In my experience Britain makes some of the very best stuff in the world. we're just pretty shit at making high volume stuff like cars and TVs, hence the public perception. Anything high tech, high spec or high performance though - there are few places better to source things.

Hence why I work for a British firm bought out by an enormous German OEM, but still based in the UK and building new factories/offices here.

[Saga Lout]

... a British firm bought out by an enormous German OEM...

And there's part of the problem, you think you're buying British but it's really some foreign muck™. You might as well not bother and just buy the stuff that you like and can afford.

[Mr. Dazzle]

... a British firm bought out by an enormous German OEM...

And there's part of the problem, you think you're buying British but it's really some foreign muck™. You might as well not bother and just buy the stuff that you like and can afford.

Meh.

My "German" car wasn't made in Germany, lots of the design was done in India and some was even done here in the UK. It uses parts from Germany, Belgium, China, Taiwan...millions of places, those are just the ones I know of.

The concept of a nationality in anything more complicated than a spoon is a bit nominal.

In fact even my spoons probably use Australian iron processed in China before being made into spoons in Turkey, then sold to me by a 'Swedish' company.

[Count Steer]

Lordy, you have women's feet!

Lol. They're bigger than mine.

English stereo system here too and a Roberts radio from when they made them here.

The area where I grew up produced hosiery, shoes, metal products (everything from biscuit tins, tins for 200 Rothmans tabs to spinning tops, bicycles (Raleigh), fabric/clothes/yarn (Coates, Viyella, Jaeger etc etc)....and lots of coal. Pretty much all gone. I think there's still one 'fibres' factory (Japanese, on the site of an old colliery).

It's all pretty much service industries now (which, economically, is like trying to pick yourself up by your socks) and there's still a fair bit of light/precision engineering.

[KungFooBob]

I work for a company that makes spoons.

They're 'Designed in Sheffield', it's all over the packaging and a big selling point.

It's all made in the PRC tho'

[Taipan]

As Count says, historically things like our cars and bikes were inferior to other countries. But then back in the day companies like Addis and Armitage Shanks were good trustworthy brands. Seems most stuff is now rebranded Chinese stuff, which, to be fair, is improving in its quality.

When I was a lad most towns had industrial estates with various manufacturers residing on there. In my town to get a job you just went on the industrial estates and looked at the Current Vacancies boards that were outside most places. Gradually a lot of the disappeared and stuff was imported and not made here any more. We'd solve a lot of problems if we rebuilt our manufacturing industry but i cant see that happening any time soon...

[Mr. Dazzle]

I work for a company that makes spoons.

They're 'Designed in Sheffield', it's all over the packaging and a big selling point.

It's all made in the PRC tho'

I've got a Stainless Steel butter knife actually made in Sheffield, it dates from about 1920. When I went to the museum at Kelham Island they had the exact same model of knife on display, it's an example of when of the first mass market things made in Stainless Steel.

Mrs. D doesn't find this fact as interesting as I do.

When I was a lad most towns had industrial estates with various manufacturers residing on there. In my town to get a job you just went on the industrial estates and looked at the Current Vacancies boards that were outside most places. Gradually a lot of the disappeared and stuff was imported and not made here any more. We'd solve a lot of problems if we rebuilt our manufacturing industry but i cant see that happening any time soon...

To be fair, a big factor is the change in how things are made. Stuff typically isn't made in little units on industrial estates any more, in any country. It's made in big massive plants with just in time logistics etc. etc.

[MyLittleStudPony]

I work for a company that makes spoons.

They're 'Designed in Sheffield', it's all over the packaging and a big selling point.

It's all made in the PRC tho'

The old spoons game, hardest game in the world.

[MyLittleStudPony]

Ans let's remember there was nothing racist about Brexit. It was just trying to treat people differently depending on what country they came from, in the hope of gaining an advantage for British people, what's racist about that?

[Bustaspoke]

I've always driven Ford cars,Escort's then Focus,I'm sure theyr'e British built.
Motorcycles are all Japanese apart from my Street Triple,Thai built.
I use Renntec racks,Pyramid plastics huggers,Powerbronze screens,Black Widow exhaust,all British.
Crash helmets,arai,Japanese made,Clothing all EU.
All my camera gear is Japanese,although I started with a Praktica & Zeiss lens's,GDR built.
When I was trucking my lorry of choice would be Volvo then Scania,EU built.
My pushbikes are Specialized,Giant & Norco,the Norco's Canadian built,the others no doubt Taiwan.All run Shimano,made in Japan or Malaysia.
I never owned a 'Brit bike' or a Orange pushbike as I thought the alternatives were better.
Most of my electronics are Samsung,Korea,although back in the day I had a Nokia mobile,Finland.
A lot of my outdoor clothing,rucksacks & tents are British branded but made in China...
I bought a couple of motorcycle loading ramps from a firm in Derby the other month,unpacked them & they've got made in China stickers on them
If British made products were competitive,I'd buy British as with the cars I own,but sadly it's not an option.

[Saga Lout]

Ans let's remember there was nothing racist about Brexit. It was just trying to treat people differently depending on what country they came from, in the hope of gaining an advantage for British people, what's racist about that?

The old Remoaner game, hardest game in the world.