[Brydo]

I must admit I always, if possible, buy British and brexit may cause things to get worse before they get better so should we be making an extra effort to save UK jobs?

France seem to be making things particularly difficult in the negotiations but should we punish them by buying alternatives to French goods?

 

 

 

Topic

[Georgie]

I’ll buy British when the choices are of equal quality e.g. Somerset Brie rather than French Brie, but I won’t Buy British is the British version is notably poorer quality e.g. on the rare occasions when I buy jam I will buy Bonne Maman because it’s better.

I tried Buying British with my first two Motability cars, too – both Vauxhalls because I thought they were British cars Made in Britain (at Ellesmere Port), but it turned out they were ‘British’ cars Made in Poland.  Third time around I bought a VW because I knew exactly what it was – a German Car actually ‘Made in Germany’ and much better quality than the Polish Vauxhalls (that are now French, I think, and still Made in Poland).

When British cars (or anything else) are actually British, Made in Britain and of equal or better quality for the money than a car from another country I’ll Buy British, but it’s up to us to Raise our Game not try and drag down the competition.

 

[joss]

Remembers THE BUY BRITISH thing in the 70’s

 

Joss
Current car: BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In metallic Portimão Blue. 04:10:2025
Previous car:Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.

[Brydo]

Actually identifying which products are British can be problematic, cars are a good example. Car parts can come from all over the world so a car that is 100% built in any one country is a rare beast.

So that brings us nicely to the 100% British made/produced to providing British jobs no matter what the actual % is. I suggest that anything that provides jobs in the UK should be classed as British made and we should favour British made/ produced products if we can.

[Georgie]

Well, by coincidence I had a new armchair delivered this morning.  Came in a box with ‘Product of China’ written on it, and the chair had a label that read ‘Product of China’ – but my husband screwed the feet on and slid the back into place, so does that mean it was actually “Made in Britain”?

As a second point, unfortunately most people are going to prefer buying 2 supermarket chickens sourced from the USA for £5 rather than 1 chicken farmed and killed in the UK, at a much higher standard of hygiene and welfare, for £8.

Admittedly the Government has now said it’s going to throw our high Hygiene and Welfare Standards out of the window in order to become ‘competitive’, in much the same way that they’ve allowed employers to pay less than the minimum wage to workers under 25, removed access to free Legal Advice from the internet, made Legal Aid virtually impossible to get and force people claiming Unfair Dismissal to pay thousands for Legal Representation at Tribunals, so only the wealthy can afford to fight.

[Mike 700]

Don’t agree with the thread going down the political road, however this is a British trait, so I suppose that I should buy into it?

I do agree with us buying British wherever possible, subject to the goods being equal to or better than imported goods but , if every country went down the road of only buying ‘ home grown’ we would never be able to sell our goods abroad, and the consequences of that do not need explanation.

So, with our hard  earned money or pension we should be free to make our own sensible choices , and not put the barriers up.

 

 

[Brydo]

Mike just like most countries in the world we don’t make everything or produce everything so trade between countries would continue in the same way as it does now.

After we leave the transition period, with or without a deal, we will be in a position we have not been in for many years. If we buy British it reduces the pressure on trading with other countries. We do of course want trade, and lots of it but the next few years will be tricky and could be very difficult. So the more we can do to help ourselves the better.

The next time you are in the supermarket have a loôk at the butter your buying or the mince and see if they are British, if not look beside them and see if there are made in Britain alternatives we need to look after ourselves in these difficult times.

[Mike 700]

As a former Regional banker Brydo, I am quite conversant with trade and finance, and I am a great believer in free trade and the freedom to trade wherever ( in the World ) that may be, but I know that there will be a price to pay for that freedom, not necessarily directly by me, and not necessarily in monetary terms.

However, I will buy British if the home produced products are competitive , but not because it is ‘the thing to do’ .

My pension needs to be spent wisely, and along with that,  on things that I want, not those that I am forced to buy irrespective of quality, so, I will buy French or Dutch butter if it is competitively priced, or Swedish or German cars, but I will also gladly buy Welsh butter or a ‘Dai’atsu car ( that’s Welsh isn’t it?) if ‘the price is right!

Cheers

[Tharg]

Must confess, Joss – I do remember the 70s’ Buy British campaign. I did actually do it with cars: Mini, Maxi, Escort (Brit made) etc. My attempts to support British industry cost me so many breakdowns and problems caused by crap design that I just gave up and went to Nissan which delivered fantastic driving enjoyment and never broke down (200sx). When I joined Motability I tried Ford and Vauxhall (trying to buy British, a bit). Very disappointing. In the end, German design and Euro engineering won out with Skoda Superb (two of). Now have BMW Mini which may have an Austrian engine and bits from all over but at least it is put together over here. Brit angle not my reason for purchase – it is the best car for my needs, the Oxford assembly is a nice bonus.

[Author]

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