Should we Buy only British to help our country ?

mirry

Do you buy British ?

If so why ?

if not why?

Pobby

Sadly there ain`t a lot left to buy that is British. In my industry there is next to nothing manufactured here. Mostly it`s imported from the far east. Even most of the once successful companies are rebadging cheaply made goods from over seas.

BenL

There is an article on the BBC website about it.

On balance - No

We stop buying from abroad, the exporters over there do not get sterling to buy stuff back from us.

If you are a tiny island and become insular the rest of the world majority will easily overpower you.

itsnever2lateisit?

I do where I cann but it is getting increasingly difficult.

The last factory to make TV's in the UK will close soon

I have no requirement for a Hawk Jet Trainer nor a Challenger II Tank.

I always buy British Shoes, but they are so good I have only bought 3 pairs in 25 years!

Cutlery is always made in sheffield, and plates from the potteries, but again they are once in a lifetime purchase.

There is a Rover on the drive, its 10 years old, and no idea what I replace it with when the time comes.

Vegetable are always seasonal and local grown, they just taste better.

My set top box is a british brand, but made in France:o

The PC is a pile of Far Eastern parts assembled by myself, but with a British Made TV tuner (Blackgold)

My Trainers - American Company, Made in England, purchased in France

Mobile phones, we just dont make em no more

Washing machine is Britsh, but its a pile of cr4p

I havent been inside Marks and Spencer since they started buying abroad, not that many of my clothes come from here.

I take the view that I want a job, and so do my fellow countrymen, and buy british where I can, and see retailers that sell Far Eastern product as destroying wealth creation in this country

Really2

We should pay more so we service imorted goods properly, but unfortunatly every one prefers "cheap" over service.

Jim_B_3

There are many things we are not self-sufficient in. Fuel and food spring to mind. If we don't buy fuel from abroad, transport slows down a great deal, further hampering the economy, and the electricity supply becomes a lot less reliable; we might even have to start turning lights off.

Even if we started converting all land to agriculture today, it would take along time to reach self-sufficiency in food. The food takes time to grow and we'd need a huge increase in the tools, people and training needed to grow enough to feed ourselves.

lostinrates

I buy somethings British, mainly food and food products. Not just for the benefit of economy but for environmental reasons (food miles) and ethical ones ('ethical' meat production). I also prefer to buy from independants when possible (and within reason from a costs p.o.v.) for ideolical reasons and the enhanced feeling of cohesion of our local society.

Thrugelmir

Always buy British food products , meat vegetables etc.

As other posters have said, what day to day products that we use today are truly "British" anymore?

I try and buy from British Companies and local traders as far as possible.

lilac_lady

I remember the 1970s slogan "I'm backing Britain". Didn't work then and it won't work now.

housesitter

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Always buy British food products , meat vegetables etc.

Unless you really get into it, that doesn't mean it's british.
Made in Britain means it was last processed here. That could well mean taking it out of big boxes and putting it in smaller ones.

AFAIK, same goes for white goods and other items too.

Car industry, parts made in other countries, assembled in the UK. Like Rolls Royce for example.

Jim_B_3

Presumably, if we buy something from abroad, that means someone abroad has some UK purchasing power (assuming that Sterling is still seen as a viable currency!) that they either trade or use to buy from the UK; eventually, someone uses it to buy British anyway.