More Respectful To Us Than We Are To Them

An interesting week or so in politics. I once had a Japanese company as a major client and worked closely with them. The Japanese are extremely courteous and actually care about the loss of face, or feelings of others, not just themselves. So, when Japan makes the warnings it has given to the UK government public, you can be certain this is a big deal.

The warning of course was about access to the single market in Europe and to a lesser extent about the free movement of workers. Japanese Banks and car makers may pull out of the UK without these things. Now, companies like Honda, Nissan, Toyota didn't come here just because we're in the Single Market, the British Government of the day made huge efforts to tempt them here. However, they would have gone to Germany, France or elsewhere in Europe if we hadn't been part of the Single Market.

One of the TV news programmes went to Swindon this week where Honda is a huge employer and spoke to people on the streets to see if they were worried. One old lady said "oh yes they (the Japanese) have been threatening us". The lack of understanding is shaming really. No, they have genuine concerns and just as the UK Government puts its (not ours) concerns first, the Japanese government puts its economy first. It's not a threat, it's a genuine worry and they will respond to suit themselves, not to hurt us specifically.

A man interviewed on the street said "well, it's very expensive to move big factories" or words to that effect, suggesting it won't happen. So, car companies like Honda, Toyota and Nissan make millions of cars, they make a four figure profit generally on each one, manufacturing equipment gets written down in the accounts, new factories get built periodically anyway, assets can be sold, can they afford to move, you can bet your life on it.

Would it make sense to move, yes, especially if tariffs mean each of those millions of cars becomes less profitable by ten or even twenty percent, you do the maths. I wonder how many of their workers voted leave. The Japanese employ one hundred and forty thousand workers in the UK and as a by the by there are one hundred and forty five thousand EUROPEAN workers in the NHS.

Malcolm Snook