US firms told 'take UK jobs home': Turns out that the Bush folks do have a plan to increase US employment, one whose stupidity boggles the mind: blackmail defense contractors into closing plants in allied countries and repatriating the jobs. The idiocy of this thuggish idea exceeds even that of the incredibly stupid and obviously illegal steel tariff.
Ok, the Evening Standard is not the New York Times, but it is London's major evening paper, and it's hard to believe they would get this wrong:
US-based multinationals have been told they will receive compensation from American trade authorities if they cancel contracts in Britain and take jobs home, according to CBI director-general Digby Jones.
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Speaking at the CBI's annual conference in Birmingham, Jones said: 'Three chief executives of American companies investing in Britain have told me to my face that they have been told to close down, bring their stuff home and make it in the US.'
He said the companies were major employers in defence or manufacturing.
Jones continued: 'Whether flouting international law with their steel tariffs or telling their companies to come home, this bullying affects Britain and British jobs.
(Spotted by the sideshow.)
Well, that ought to make for fun discussions with Tony Blair, don't you think? And for a good show at the next Question Time…
