Digby Jones: government policy bigger threat than Asia

The former minister for UK Trade & Investment called for an end to "the great sport of smack a banker" which risks driving 13-14% of UK's tax revenue out of the country. The growth of the Asian and Brazilian economies presents a huge market opportunity for UK manufacturers among the newly wealthy, Digby Jones said. He added: "We haven't a prayer of pulling that off unless we rebalance our economy. And the way to do that is keep financial services here but grow our manufacturing base so we are less dependent on them." Calling for the abolition of national insurance contributions for employers, he described as "crazy" a tax on employment when "every day our politicians say we are looking to the private sector to employ more people and pick up the slack." He also fiercely criticised the recent decision to award a £1.4bn contract to Siemens rather than Bombardier's plant in Derby: "Why do we have a government procurement policy that allows them to say "I believe in manufacturing" before they head to Düsseldorf to buy their trains?" The comments came at the Brammer Manufacturing Forum in Manchester, which united manufacturers and industry leaders to discuss operational best practice and competitiveness. Lord Jones also presented the Brammer Awards for outstanding innovation in UK manufacturing at the event. Winners included Coca Cola Enterprises, Cargill, Ball Packaging, SKF and Diageo.