Outsourcing - Why?

The crisis has exposed as never before

the costs of an unquestioning commitment

to a internationalist dogma

that has caused states

to become dangerously dependent

upon vulnerable extended supply chains

for vital medical supplies,

including life-saving drugs.

All of a sudden,

it does not seem quite such a good idea

to have outsourced vast swathes

of Western industrial capacity to a point

where as much as 80 per cent

of the world’s pharmaceuticals

are made in China.

The free market dogmas of free trade,

and the free movement of capital and of labour, have exposed us all to danger.

Now states are rushing to re-assert their sovereign rights to impose border controls and to impose trade restrictions on essential medical supplies.

We must make government ensure that the indigenous capacity to manufacture vital medical supplies and pharmaceuticals is treated as a national security issue.

We must press the government to provide incentives for the broader repatriation of manufacturing capacities to Britain.