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Comment by pastor_elm | Hacker News Reader

Benefits of free-trade? You mean like a devastated blue collar class? Keep British products manufactured in Britain.

Didn't Britain de-industrialize of its own volition, in the 60s/70s/80s? :)

I've honestly only seen/owned at best a handful of products made in the UK. (I look at the country of origin of almost everything I buy, and I generally prefer EU-made things over Chinese-made things). Things that come to mind:

- Lorlin switches, and there is (probably "used to be") a Möller plant in the UK.

- A hammer made by Thorex. Good concept, poor quality.

- A saw made by Thomas Flinn. Poor steel.

- Fountain pen ink.

- Well that was a short list. Perhaps some English books I have were printed in UK. Though probably not.

There's an industrial estate almost literally a stones throw from my window (here in the UK) that makes all kinds of things, especially Aero related.

Look again in a year ;)

I remember all the FUD pre-referendum about how their would be an immediate economic crash the day after a vote to leave the EU. Look how well that prediction turned out.

I met a plasterer that told me he'd had to change careers because Polish competition would work for so much less, so it's not as simple as that.

Not sure why you were downvoted. This is a common problem for people "working in the trade".

...and pretty much any low-paid job.

We used to have machines that washed our cars, that's now been replaced by the Polish as they can do it for cheaper (and better).

Manufacturing has mostly moved to China, not the EU.

A lot of manufacturing has moved to Eastern Europe, especially car manufacturing. Ironically, UK was a strong advocate of the EU enlargement...

Yeah like James Dyson the Brexit supporter is doing... oh wait, no he isn't.

They were being ironic as we wont be in the zone in a few weeks

lol, Thatcher is to blame for the gutting of British manufacturing.

If you want to know why we became a service economy with a heavy focus on banking and the City of London, the neoliberals in the Tory and Labour parties are responsible,

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