British Party: Textile Production in Kent

Proposal made to Kent County Council in June 2013.

Receipt of this proposal was acknowledged.

By way of this letter I wish to present the following proposal to improve Kent’s economy.

Textile Production in Kent

The establishment of a textile industry in Kent producing clothes and footwear would create local employment within the County, offering the retail market products made at fair prices.

At present, retail sales of textile products in Kent are almost entirely reliant on cheap-labour import from the Far East, with High-Street brands charging unreasonable profits. Shoes made in India are sold at prices that do not reflect the factory wages paid in that country, for example £50 to £80 a pair; clothes made in China are sold at prices significantly above that which one would expect to pay for the standard Chinese factory wage, for example trousers at £25 a pair.

Clearly there is a High-Street policy of making large profits on manufactured goods produced in the Far East at very low wages, normally calculated at around £30 to £60 a month. These items could be produced in Britain at standard UK wages - even above minimum wage - and still be sold cheaper than the current retail prices, while leaving reasonable profits for manufacturer and retailer.

Manufacturers and High-Street retail chains have progressively closed down industrial production in Britain and transferred it to the Far East at wages that are fractional compared to those of the UK. However, they are earning large profits by selling the products at a cost many times higher than when purchased from the factories of origin in countries such as India, China and Bangladesh.

This policy, which has contributed to widespread unemployment in Britain, is also in complete disregard of the carbon footprint concerning transport over long distances, going against the spirit of Britain’s carbon emission laws.

Fair Trade and the Right to Employment

As fair trade, combined with the right to employment for local people at honest and fair wages, is the objective of this presentation, I propose that the County Council assess the introduction of skills and training facilities in Kent where local people can learn the basic skills required to produce textiles, clothes and footwear, and also the establishment of factories at district level where production could take place.

The same idea could also apply to other sectors of industrial production which have been almost entirely transferred to the Far East and in particular to China, such as electronics. Indeed, the list of industrial production transferred abroad to cheap-labour factories is long and covers a wide range of manufacture.

By following this proposal even in its initial phase, namely the establishment of a textile industry in Kent, many thousands of permanent jobs could be created, ensuring a decent income for local workers and their families, reducing the burden on the benefit system and contributing to a steady income of revenues.

The purchase of clothes and footwear made locally at fair wages – and sold with reasonable profit margins – could also become part of a future awareness among many people, in particular as the current ongoing financial crisis is partly a result of the dismantling of traditional production and its systematic outsourcing to cheap-labour economies.

Such items could be sold cheaper than the products made in India and China that evidently have huge corporate profit-margins attached to them.

In the sincere hope this presentation will be of interest to the County Council, I look forward to hearing from you.


The reply from Kent County Council did not accept the proposal. Yet it is a fundamental part of economic Prosperity. British Party is the only one that offers Prosperity, as no other party in Britain will. This is quite evident, as councils are elected along party lines and clearly the proposal for sane economy is not accepted by other parties. 

Written by D. Alexander