Gordon Brown adviser says City all-important - and 'rest of the country can be turned over to tourism'
Source: telegraph.co.uk
A senior economic adviser to Gordon Brown said the City of London was all-important to the Government and “the rest of the country can be turned over to tourism”, it is claimed today.
A report on defence spending quotes the “influential” official as telling union officials that manufacturing had “no value” but the financial sector had to be “supported at all costs”.
The alleged comments, made before the collapse of Northern Rock but only now made public, appear to shed new light on the Government’s decision to press ahead with a £1.3 trillion bail-out of the banking sector while being criticised for doing too little to support industry.
The report by the UK National Defence Association (UKNDA), an independent body, quotes the government adviser as saying: “Defence, aerospace, manufacturing and engineering have no real value to us.
“Only high-quality professional services, financial services and the City of London have any real value and they should be supported at all costs. The rest of the country can be turned over to tourism.”
The report, which highlighted a £15 billion shortfall in defence spending, will lead to intense speculation over the identity of the unnamed government adviser.
Dr Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said: “If these comments are true, then it lays bare the contempt this government has for the defence industries, which play an important role in supporting British exports and British jobs.
“It also explains why defence was notably left out of the Government’s fiscal stimulus package - unlike in other countries, such as France and Germany, which brought forward some of their defence spending, Gordon Brown’s government has actually delayed major projects such as the aircraft carriers. There has long been a suspicion that Gordon Brown and his closest advisers had an anti-defence bias; now we have this confirmed.”
Paul Kenny, the general secretary of the GMB union, described the comment as “an appalling statement”, which “mocked” hard-working people in the manufacturing sector.
A spokesman for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) pointed out that the Manufacturing Strategy, launched in September last year, committed the Government to “a mixed and balanced economy where manufacturing activities complement services”.
The UKNDA report, which was previewed in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, was written by Tony Edwards, a former head of defence export services at the Ministry of Defence, who said he was not at liberty to disclose the identity of the official.
The report has been endorsed by patrons, including Lord Owen and two former chiefs of the defence staff, Lord Guthrie and Sir Peter Harding.
Source: Gordon Brown adviser says City all-important - and 'rest of the country can be turned over to tourism'
