Foreign is best

One of the greatest tragedies of recent British history has been the decline of Britain´s industrial base. Much of Britain´s limited manufacturing base is now in foreign hands and it has prospered. Margaret Thatcher has been blamed for destroying British industry but it could be argued that she helped save it. She put the necessary legislation in place which encouraged foreign investment and led to Japanese car companies opening in the north of England. The sale of some of the former British Leyland brands to American companies was also championed by the Thatcher government and while Austin Rover went to the wall, the now Indian owned Jaguar/Landrover and BWM-owned Mini have prospered and are now success stories. Shipbuilding is unfortunately another story. Britain now only builds ships for the Royal Navy for political reasons. Thatcher has been accused of destroying the shipbuilding industry but unfortunately it just couldn´t be saved.