Matt Johnson: Is Britain open for business at any price?

Jan 23 2008 by Matt Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

I'VE given up trying to read our Prime Minister's body language in front of the camera. If his mannerisms, voice patterns and facial expressions tax the talents of Rory Bremner, what chance do the rest of us stand in trying to read between the lines on his forehead?

There was no mistaking the message and script last week, though, during his whistle-stop visit to China.

From the moment his British Airways aircraft made a conventional landing in Beijing (after being delayed in the aftermath of the Heathrow chaos on Thursday morning) Gordon Brown's whole demeanour was businesslike. Very businesslike.

And his message to his hosts appeared simple, too: Britain is open for business with you.

Sales missions, trade delegations, VIP visits – call them what you like. They have been a weapon in the armoury of successive governments over the years. Indeed, arms themselves have more than occasionally been traded between the UK and other, shall we say, customers with questionable intentions.

These trips, sorry missions, are often managed through the Department of Trade and Industry where mandarins have the delicate task of keeping a great many spinning plates in the air.

Last week, though, must surely mark some sort of record in the plate-spinning and ball-juggling stakes.

As one correspondent travelling with the Prime Minister observed: "The emergence of the modern Chinese economy does, without doubt, spell opportunity for the rest of the world's more developed economies. In recent years, the story of China's economic growth has been one of cheap labour and cheap manufactured goods. Now, as the country grows richer, it has money to spend at home – more Bentleys are sold in Beijing than in London – and money to invest abroad."

Throughout the Downing Street delegation's visit (and remember it was a delegation that included the likes of Sir Richard Branson and athlete Kelly Holmes) the unswerving approach of the official UK party was clear: We want a slice of your economic action.

That's all very well, up to a point. There are issues here – albeit issues Mr Brown and his entourage will say they dealt with but which the rest of us still need resolving.

For starters, there is the human rights record of Mr Brown's hosts. Secondly, there is the massive challenge of global warming and the impact China's phenomenal growth is having on the state of the planet.

Mr Brown's minders might have bandied about words like "forthright" and "full" and "frank" after the behind closed doors sessions during which these issues, we are told, were aired between the visitor and his hosts.

But surely it remains the biggest challenge of the lot for a government wanting to see the economic riches being created in China spread back to Britain?

Yes, we are open for business – and in the North West and Liverpool in particular strong trade and cultural links already exist with China.

But are we open for business at any price? I hope not.

MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group