Industry matters to British workers

In Britain today it is important to explain and debate why industry matters. This is a strange state of affairs for a country that was the first to go through an industrial revolution and which has done so much to bring about modern industry.

And it’s strange too that the British working class, whose existence is so bound up with industry, should need to ask the question. The problem is not a lack of understanding that the modern world depends on making things, but the understanding of what to do about capitalism, which controls production and is destroying it here.

Three aspects of this problem are worth exploring: why industry creates real value; why workers need to exert control over industry; and why Britain needs industry to maintain independence and a balanced economy.

What is industry?

What do we mean by industry? Industry is the application of hand and brain to produce what people need to exist and thrive. Yet when we talk about industry, most people will think of heavy industry factories manufacturing things, usually in metal.

Industry is far wider than that. It ranges from mining raw materials to manufacturing toys – not to mention machines that can make other machines. It includes biotech and medicines, aircraft and the simulators essential for pilot training. And it includes all the infrastructure and transport necessary to support manufacture.

Ever since the industrial revolution industry means large-scale, integrated production which created the modern world with all its achievements and benefits. So the future of industry isn’t a return to handmade, artisan products. Nor is it a nostalgic recreation of the industries of the past. Modern industry is about developing and transforming production. Data centres are a good example of this (see Box, p13).

Without industry to create real value and the manufactured items we need, a nation will tend towards relying on debt to pay for those goods. And in turn that increases dependency on other countries to make them.

As far as heavy industry is concerned, the current government has continued the destructive policy of the British state since at least the 1980s – the Thatcher era. In its short time in office, this Labour government has overseen: the closure of the last British coal fired power station; the closure of blast furnaces at Tata Steel; withdrawal of support for the development of a coal mine in Cumbria; the continued decommissioning of the nuclear estate; and blocks on further oil and gas extraction.

The justification for such destruction is a blinkered anti-industrial view on the lines of, “these industries killed many workers, and create climate change”. But technology has moved on; investment in these fundamental industries has gone to other countries and not to Britain.

Steelmaking, mineral extraction and power generation still exist – just not all that we need in Britain. These fundamental industries matter! Without them there are no manufactured goods – no medical scanners, computers, wind turbines, agricultural machinery, bricks and so on. And the service sector – from tourism to financial institutions – can’t exist without these manufactured goods.

Education could be viewed as the archetypal service industry, yet it is intertwined with manufacture. Modern industry reflects advances in scientific knowledge which drives education of the whole class forward. And in turn educated workers are the source of further industrial development. The demise of technical higher education and the lack of skills training are badly damaging to our industrial future.

The need for industry

Britain needs modern industry to create value from the skills of people to enable a civilised nation to live healthily.

As things stand now, some industrial sectors in Britain still show some leadership and outstanding capability, or could do so with the right investment. But in many other sectors, as we know, our industries have been decimated.

‘Britain needs modern industry to create value from the skills of people to enable a civilised nation to live healthily…’

Many workers do see that industry is necessary to meet the needs of the people of this country. They are unconvinced by the policies of successive governments towards industry and wary of the anti-industrial view. But there’s a lack of confidence in how to challenge the decline.

While it is relatively easy to understand the connection between industry and progress, it is difficult to achieve real interconnected policies allowing the range of industries to work efficiently and grow.

Global capitalism has been busy carving up the key blocks of modern industry, dividing them between countries. This has been an essential aspect of the EU project too. The aim is to maximise profit and at the same time diminish the economic power of independent nations.

Collectivism and control

Modern industry is cooperative and interconnected. But the capitalist dream is to limit and control the working class, so they do not extend their cooperation to their control of production and investment. Capitalists prefer a fragmented working class, competing with each other for work and wages.

For workers to exert control over their future means working together, collectivism. And we need to maintain manufacturing industry to ensure and encourage the continued collectivism of workers in Britain.

Collectivism brings into life the ideas needed to exert control over industry, not just to making things but to decide what is made how and when. Collectivism and cooperation exist in other sectors, often in abundance, but in manufacturing the interaction of many workers to create real wealth is paramount.

Britain and industry

Industry matters to Britain as a nation – to be independent and to retain a balanced economy. This is recognised to an extent, partly as a result of Brexit. But as a nation we have not fully realised the consequences and what’s needed.

The view that Britain needs a broad range of industries from heavy to light is frequently challenged in practice – “we don’t make anything anyway”, “we can’t compete with other countries”, “we can import whatever we need” and so on.

All those statements or beliefs boil down to an acceptance that capitalism is the only way to organise production and that the existence of Britain as an independent nation isn’t possible under capitalism.

And in the hands of multinational corporations, manufacturing in Britain becomes fragmented and incomplete, serving only the needs of global capital.

The more that manufacturing decreases and debt increases, the more the cycle of decline continues. International capital markets make more loans – taking more wealth out of Britain as interest payments rise. This way offers no future for the next generation.

The number of British companies sold to foreign investors continues to rise, up sharply again last year. This “investment” is  not positive as this government and its predecessors claim. It is handicapping future progress. This is far more damaging than the privatisation mania of the Thatcher era – bad as that was.

And in trying to attract inward investment, the government bows to international companies, for example in the creation of freeports, a surrender of sovereignty and another way of undermining an integrated industrial economy.

Investment

There is capital – plenty of it – that could be used for investment here in Britain. Billions of pounds are invested overseas by British companies – nearly £80 billion in 2022, with total overseas assets of almost £2 trillion. That value should be used to invest for future production here. No discussion of the future of industry in Britain can avoid the impact of net zero polices. Directly these affect energy production and indirectly they impact all manufacturing – negatively.

‘No discussion of the future of industry in Britain can avoid the impact of net zero polices.…’

Vehicle manufacturing here is under threat. In November 2024, Vauxhall Motors owner Stellantis announced the closure of its Luton plant – partly due to the electric vehicle (EV) mandate banning the sale of internal combustion engine powered vehicles from 2030. And BMW has put on hold the production of EVs at Cowley due to government Zero Emission Vehicle targets.

Tesla has received £200 million in grants since 2016 – mostly through the electric vehicle subsidy. Their cars are not made in Britain.

Steel

In January the British government launched a new Steel Council to revitalise the “neglected” sector. It says that it aims to secure the future of steelmaking as a cornerstone of British industry. It also announced a steel strategy the following month.

Workers in the sector may be understandably cynical given cripplingly high energy costs, overseas ownership and so far unrealised dreams of carbon-free steel production.

But there may be some promise in the latest government moves, despite the suspicion that they are window dressing. The opportunity to force positive action in Britain’s interests is too important to pass up. Unions have broadly welcomed these developments.

But everyone – including the companies themselves – is pointing to the need to address the key question of energy costs; British steelmakers are paying twice as much as their French and Spanish counterparts.

Workers can make a difference by taking on government policy – and even by working with employers where possible. What’s happening in the steel industry is one instance, but there are many more opportunities when workers take on the full implications of the necessity of industry.

• This article is based on contributions made at a CPBML Zoom discussion meeting held in January 2025.

• Related article: Who controls the data centres?