The warning from Next’s CEO regarding ‘dramatic’ job losses has sent a shockwave through UK manufacturing confidence, revealing a critical vulnerability in our economic defence. This is not merely a business cycle fluctuation. It is a threat vector that hostile state actors can exploit.
The erosion of manufacturing capacity weakens our strategic autonomy, creating dependencies that adversaries can weaponise. The logistics of this pivot are clear: reduced domestic production means increased reliance on foreign supply chains. From a military intelligence standpoint, any interruption in these lines could cripple our ability to sustain operations.
The hardware gap widens with every job lost. We must treat this as a strategic warning. The clock is ticking on our industrial base.
Failure to secure this sector is an open invitation for competitive intelligence and economic warfare. The cold calculus demands immediate resilience measures. This is a pivot point.
We either reinforce our manufacturing backbone or risk a decisive strategic disadvantage.
