Politicians from all parties and construction industry representatives have united to help kick start the ailing construction industry which is suffering its worst recession since 1980 with eight firms going bust every day and house building at its lowest level since 1924. Get Britain Building, the biggest coalition in the UK's building industry’s history, launched in the House of Commons on 10th February, is now campaigning to help the construction industry survive.
The Get Britain Building campaign, spearheaded by British Precast, the Builders Merchants Federation, the Federation of Master Builders and the Modern Masonry Alliance, is demanding that the Government supports its 10-point manifesto to get Britain building again and save hundreds of thousands of jobs in the construction industry.
The manifesto is calling for the Government to create a new business environment framework in which the construction companies can work. The manifesto includes a plea to get banks lending to small businesses again; a Government strategy to refurbish the country’s 26m homes to make them more energy efficient; a cut in VAT to 5% for property maintenance; a major increase in new social housing and a defined timetable to complete the Government’s planned investment in new schools and hospitals.
Speaking at the campaign launch in Westminster, Liberal Democrat MP Lorely Burt described the construction industry as "a road accident victim, left bleeding at the side of the road".
Her comments were echoed by the Shadow Construction Minister Mark Prisk MP, who called on the political parties to unite and start delivering policies that will help the construction industry. “The time for talking is over,” he said. “The industry cannot wait as we need action now.”
Also speaking at the event was Government Minister Rt. Hon John Spellar MP, who has a long history of involvement in the construction industry. Despite their political differences all agreed on the need to help the construction industry.
Speaking at a rally in Parliament Square that followed the launch, Richard Diment, Director-General of the FMB said: “During the last recession the UK construction industry lost over 500,000 skilled jobs and we simply cannot allow that to happen again. The Government needs to heed the calls from both politicians and industry and start delivering policies that will help the construction industry survive this recession.
"A skilled workforce will be essential to the long-term recovery of the UK and we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past by allowing skilled jobs to disappear because when they have gone they tend to be gone for good.”
