Devalue pound to boost economy, says JML founder

As a major importer of goods, from kitchen gadgets and snuggies, to irons and sports bras for his JML range of television shopping channels, Mr Mills says manufacturing will only return to the UK if the costs come down. De-valuing the pound is the fastest way to achieve this, he says.

“We’ve got to get the pound down to make light manufacturing profitable,” he said. “At JML we would buy UK products but we can get everything we sell produced in China for two-thirds of the cost. This is almost entirely an exchange rate issue.

“As a result, industrial output just goes down. We can’t pay our way in the world and the economy stagnates - that’s what we’re heading for.”

He said UK politicians are only using two of the three major ways that a government can influence the economy - fiscal policy, monetary policy and exchange rates.

“Everyone is fixated on the first two and has totally ignored the third,” he said. “This is the big, big policy mistake that has been made.”

The paper also calls for faster supply side reforms including faster planning laws and improved broadband speeds. It sets out the expected economic impact of the plan which, Mr Mills argues, would push GDP up by 3pc in the first year and by 5pc by the fifth year. The growth would give the Government flexibility to improve the cost of living without having to focus on the deficit.

Mr Mills said that George Osborne’s move last week to double the annual investment allowance was a “step in the right direction” that would help UK manufacturers.

Otherwise, he said the Budget would not help the economy in the long term.

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