DTI support is top priority for UK industries

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) needs to do more in Whitehall to support UK manufacturing, according to the head of the manufacturers’ organisation, EEF.

Addressing the biennial Manufacturers’ Dinner at London’s Dorchester hotel, Martin Temple said: “We remain supporters of the DTI, but we want the department to be more vocal and make its influence felt in Westminster by resisting bad policy-making and defending good initiatives.”

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Trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson said there was cross-party support for UK manufacturing, but there would be no protectionist measures to save jobs. “There can be no return to national handouts to failing enterprises,” he added.

“There is an Icelandic proverb,” he said. “The man who stands in the snow and decides to pee in his shoes to keep his feet warm will only get very temporary relief.”