"the death of manufacturing in the UK is mainly due to the government totally failing to invest in R&D for the last 15 years or so."

Interesting. Why is it the government's obligation to invest in R&D (of manufacturing?), surely that's the responsibility of the manufacturers themselves?

They problem is that they don't, they'll take the low-risk route every time.

The debate included anecdotes saying that China, Germany and America have been pumping %-wise much higher amounts into R&D (or schemes to 'encourage' it) through their governments compared to the UK.

To a socialist it's the governments obligation to do everything.

It's an autobiography. It's biased.

This doesn't make the facts she cites, or arguments she presents any less compelling.

It's not really that far fetched to say that "most of our stuff is made in countries with abundant cheap labour".

Investing in R&D would not have solved the fundamental issue - workers in the UK are expensive. Workers in poor countries are cheap.

That's not a fundamental issue unless you've redefined fundamental, you need to learn more about Economics and Manufacturing.