The Poolie Bunker

Good news to see that the former Smith's Docks were all full recently for the first time in decades with various vessels undergoing dry and in water repairs.
It's always been a matter of bemusement for me that our shipyards were deemed to be uncompetitive and hence were closed down whilst German and Dutch yards were still making profits. Considering that wages are higher in Germany and Holland what was the difference (my instinct is that those countries found a way around the EU subsidies rules that we just rolled over to.

Smiths Dock had orders ready to be built when it was closed in the late 80s, the closure was political. As with our coal and steel industries Thatcher brought in Canadian/American mercenaries to manage these industries and when I say manage I mean shut down…

Starter for 10, which former referee used to work there?

That's what I was inferring mate, other EU countries protected their industries while we preferred to shut them down whilst blaming EU rules and beaurocracy. Still good to see that there's a bit of a revival going on and particularly in our area, and island nation just giving up on industry that is crucial for existence is ridiculous.
Another one is going to be our inability to grow and produce food as we turn farmland into often switched off and redundant solar farms.

Yes, I agree is good to at least see it survive in some form even if it is just ship repair. I also agree that it was fundamentally wrong to decimate these industries and it’s a decision we will continue to regret.

I don’t agree with everything Burnham says but I do agree on this aspect, and manufacturing in this country needs to be revived wherever possible.

Was it Winter?

Christopher Quentin also worked there I believe…

mine minerals and anything else you have underground then manufacture what you can and what could go wrong if there is no political interferance by those with pie in the sky unproven agendas.

You are right about Quentin.

EU rules on state aid kept many European coal, steel and allied industries going for decades. The same subsidy routes were available to UK government but they refused to protect UK interests.

why should they as for years they were trying to push school leavers away from these industries to anything else. thats after spending 3 years plus in forms of higher education coming out eventually with more degrees than the average pools striker gets goals in a season.

I remember a documentary during the Thatcher years that showed modern cranes and other equipment from a shut down British dockyard being carefully dismantled and shipped over to Taiwan to be put back into use in a new dockyard there.

Like closing the pits to import cheaper coal from mines in communist Poland. The message was, who needs industry when anyone with money could do very nicely out of 'invisible earnings' from banking, insurance and the stock market? Which was ok for some till the 2008 global banking collapse...

Heavy industry was always tolerated rather than respected by consecutive Goverments.
Over the past 45 years it’s been the target to get everyone into a uni for their degree while heavy industry can be shipped off to ‘Johnny foreigner’ as it’s now below our dignity to do such jobs.

45 years, its at least 63 when i left school and kids were told then that heavy industry was a dead end job like shop work was for the lasses. lets say i know a few lads and lasses who ignored them to become richer than the pen pushers or those who did go to university in the mid 60,s. same with my lad and his group who did as little as possible at school when they actually went in and all of them have done well for themselves.

The end began with the Tories and both Party’s since have been a bit sniffy to any job that meant getting your hands dirty.

I mentioned many times about the number of oil & gas module construction yards on Teesside, if any of them opened up again and secured some contracts i doubt very much they would be able to get the staff. When I worked in them it was an aging workforce who never been replaced.