UK Prime Minister David Cameron visited the McLaren Technology Centre on Thursday as the company unveiled their brand new Automotive factory, situated next to the world renowned MTC.
Cameron hailed Formula 1 as an ‘incredible’ British success story, one that has created thousands of jobs in the United Kingdom and is respected as the pinnacle of engineering.
You can read his full speech below:
“When I come here and see what you’re doing here it’s a great reminder that actually in Britain we do still have world class engineering, world class manufacturing, world class production techniques.
“I’ve been to a few factories, a few car manufacturing plants in my time – I’ve never been to anything quite like this. It really is inspiring what you do.
“We all want this to be a country where we are respected again for what we make as well as the services and finance we provide, vital though they are. There are people out there who say it can’t happen because the base has gone, the skills aren’t there, Britain doesn’t make enough things any more on which to build. So they conclude our glory days of science, engineering and manufacturing are behind us, and from now on it’s going to be about buying from the world rather than selling to the world.
“What McLaren does here in Woking is a powerful rebuke to that view. One of the things that so impressed me is it is not just about the extraordinary Formula One cars you make, or indeed the incredible new cars we’ve been looking at. It’s the technology, the invention, the patents, it’s all of that intellectual property that is going to lead to so many other great businesses in the future.”
“There is something that is not said often enough, but Formula One is an incredible British success story. It’s not just every time Jenson or Lewis crosses the winning line. But every time Schumacher or Barrichello roars off the starting grid, they are doing so in cars built right here in Britain.
“Engineering does not get more complex than this – tens of thousands of components, aerodynamics that almost defy the laws of physics, cars that go from 0-300kmh in less than nine seconds.
“This team designs a new part for a car every 20 minutes across the season, that’s how fast the innovation is.
“It’s engineering so ground-breaking that when space scientists are looking for ideas they come to the brains in Formula One.
“You remember Beagle 2 – it was encased in a lightweight plastic first developed for Formula One exhaust systems.
“We can be proud British engineering is not just dominating Formula One, but actually changing the world.”
“I don’t for one second underestimate the difficulties ahead of us, but at the same time we have to be alive to the hope that is out there.
“It’s about the growing strength of our car industry, the genius of our engineers, the genuine drive of our young people and apprentices – I’ve seen all of those things today.
“It’s visits to places like this that make me optimistic about the future, even in the difficult times we face.
“This country has the talent, the ideas, the expertise to create and to sell more to the rest of the world.
“It has a Government that is determined to capitalise on the opportunities out there, determined to invest in entrepreneurship and success.
“I am confident with all the difficulties we face, we can ride out the storm that is taking place in Europe.
“Over time we can come through it in a way that we are much stronger, showing the world Britain is back making things, back open for business.”
