Letter: British products: a question of quality

Sir: When parking my French car on the site of a former steelworks at the Garden Festival of Wales last week, I noticed that we were between Swedish- and Italian-made cars and behind a Russian one. It struck me that we, the owners of these cars, were partly responsible for the demise of that steelworks and the resultant loss of jobs.

I then mentally pictured a recently made-redundant man driving up to a pub in his Japanese car, walking to the bar in his Portuguese shoes, ordering a German beer and demanding to know what the Government is going to do about unemployment.

It seems to be a national failing that we seldom consider the origin of the things we buy. If we bought British products that were similar in quality and price to their foreign equivalent, we would be playing our part in helping employment and the balance of payments.

During the recession/slump of the Thirties there were advertisements and posters urging readers to buy British. EC agreements may make it impossible for the Government to fund such a campaign, but it is surely something the Confederation of British Industry or similar organisations should seriously consider.

Yours faithfully,

J. C. HARDY

Sevenoaks, Kent