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| Ed Miliband to call for more prominent Made in Britain label | Ed Miliband to call for more prominent Made in Britain label |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Labour leader Ed Miliband will become an unlikely flag waving champion of British business on Tuesday by calling for a more prominent standard Made in Britain label on all British products. | |
| In a speech to the Engineering Employers Federation, setting out Labour's industry policy Miliband will say: "There are three words we do not hear enough. Those three words are 'Made in Britain'." | In a speech to the Engineering Employers Federation, setting out Labour's industry policy Miliband will say: "There are three words we do not hear enough. Those three words are 'Made in Britain'." |
| Miliband said he was supporting the Made in Britain initiative launched a year ago by Stoves and Co, the last British manufacturer of cookers and fridges. | Miliband said he was supporting the Made in Britain initiative launched a year ago by Stoves and Co, the last British manufacturer of cookers and fridges. |
| Miliband will say: "This is not about a backward looking Buy British campaign. This is not about making consumers feel bad if they don't buy products from British business, it's about something else. We cannot recognise or celebrate our strength in manufacturing unless we know what is designed invented or made here." | Miliband will say: "This is not about a backward looking Buy British campaign. This is not about making consumers feel bad if they don't buy products from British business, it's about something else. We cannot recognise or celebrate our strength in manufacturing unless we know what is designed invented or made here." |
| His remarks are reminiscent of the "I'm Backing Britain" campaign adopted by Harold Wilson as prime minister in 1968. | His remarks are reminiscent of the "I'm Backing Britain" campaign adopted by Harold Wilson as prime minister in 1968. |
| That campaign started spontaneously when five Surbiton secretaries volunteered to work an extra half an hour each day without pay in order to boost productivity, and urged the rest of the country to follow their initiative, prompting "I'm backing Britain" stickers and badges across the country in a post World Cup wave of patriotism. | That campaign started spontaneously when five Surbiton secretaries volunteered to work an extra half an hour each day without pay in order to boost productivity, and urged the rest of the country to follow their initiative, prompting "I'm backing Britain" stickers and badges across the country in a post World Cup wave of patriotism. |
| Miliband will claim the government has been silent on the Stoves campaign for more than a year. "There should be a standard Made in Britain mark that is backed not just by industry but backed by government. We need more pride and patriotism in our industry in our inventors designers and our makers." | Miliband will claim the government has been silent on the Stoves campaign for more than a year. "There should be a standard Made in Britain mark that is backed not just by industry but backed by government. We need more pride and patriotism in our industry in our inventors designers and our makers." |
| Stoves launched a competition to invent a new Made in Britain marque after it found general confusion amongst consumers about whether products were British made. | |
| Survey findings revealed that half of UK consumers are baffled when it comes to buying 'British', two-thirds (67%) want an official seal of approval to show products made in Britain and the majority (52%) think British brands should bring manufacturing back to the UK. | Survey findings revealed that half of UK consumers are baffled when it comes to buying 'British', two-thirds (67%) want an official seal of approval to show products made in Britain and the majority (52%) think British brands should bring manufacturing back to the UK. |
| Miliband will also accuse the education secretary Michael Gove of downgrading the engineering diploma in schools from one that was worth five GCSEs to just one. | Miliband will also accuse the education secretary Michael Gove of downgrading the engineering diploma in schools from one that was worth five GCSEs to just one. |
| "What signal does that send to young people thinking what they might do in the world?" he will say. "The people at the top do not regard this as a proper subject or as a proper qualification. The British engineering sector needs to recruit an extra 2.5m engineers over the next 10 years. How can we do that when we have this snobbery getting in the way?" | "What signal does that send to young people thinking what they might do in the world?" he will say. "The people at the top do not regard this as a proper subject or as a proper qualification. The British engineering sector needs to recruit an extra 2.5m engineers over the next 10 years. How can we do that when we have this snobbery getting in the way?" |
| He will also admit that too often in the past the Labour government mistook industrial activism as form of dangerous protectionism. In a reference to the bulk of the Labour industrial policy he will say: "Governments underestimated the extent to which we need pride and patriotism – infusing everything from government to culture if British business is to succeed." | He will also admit that too often in the past the Labour government mistook industrial activism as form of dangerous protectionism. In a reference to the bulk of the Labour industrial policy he will say: "Governments underestimated the extent to which we need pride and patriotism – infusing everything from government to culture if British business is to succeed." |
| He will insist "government should stop feeling embarrassed about the need for more patriotism in our economic policy. It is patriotic to have an active government using all means at its disposal to give competitive British firms every chance to succeed." | He will insist "government should stop feeling embarrassed about the need for more patriotism in our economic policy. It is patriotic to have an active government using all means at its disposal to give competitive British firms every chance to succeed." |