Letter: Need for a stronger manufacturing sector in the UK

Sir: The article by Hamish McRae (18 November) is controversial only in the political sense. Its logic is evident and one can finish reading and agree that a move to alternative means of earning the gross national product are in the interests of us all.

However most of the jobs being created, not involving manufacturing, demand cerebral skills, while those lost are those utilising manual skills. Obviously, more and more education is a treatment, but this does not cure the situation.

It is the hand workers, the manual people, the operatives that take the brunt of the changes - a part of the working population which is less adept at changing. A completely free market benefits those lucky enough to be born with the most brains.

Unless the army of unemployed is to consist mostly of manual workers, we cannot let the changes happen without regard to the working population.

Yours sincerely,

IAN L. DUFF

London, W2

18 November