…what does this have to do with shoes? A “managed decline?” Brother, the problem with the UK economy is Brexit. That was put in by a plebiscite. It’s not saying much, but at every level, including in the manufacture of shoes, the government has the greatest power to create or destroy wealth.
Austerity measures predate Brexit by quite a bit as a result of deliberate choices by a conservative government. Brexit accelerated pre-existing downtrends.
Many parallels may be drawn: austerity vs DOGE in gutting government services, the deluded nativist/isolationist core of Brexit vs the tariffing the entire world, xenophobia, and most obviously a nostalgia of past-greatness that doesn't quite fit the present circumstances.
