By Paula Dear BBC News

The crisis currently enveloping car maker MG Rover could well represent another nail in the coffin of UK manufacturing. If rescue attempts fail, then Britain will lose its last volume car maker.

Perhaps in the past people bought cars and other products purely because they were 'British', rallying round and opening their wallets for the sake of the economy and jobs.

But are consumers patriotic enough to care anymore about where the stuff they buy - whether it be their cars or their apples - comes from? Is the Britishness of a product relevant to consumers, who expect more and more choice, and cheaper prices, from a global marketplace?

"That full frontal assault of trying to get people to feel patriotic is not what it's about now," says Peter Walker, a senior partner in public relations firm Pielle Consulting.

"It should be about trying to persuade people, not slapping them across the face with a wet fish. What do you say? Buy British because it's good for you, or because it's good for us?"

The UK has changed from a "push" society to a "pull" society, he says, meaning people no longer want to be told what they want or need.

In for a pound?

"People will say 'I will make the choice' because they can do that now. Since 10 or 15 years ago the channels through which we provide messages to people have changed, and with the internet they can make those choices," he adds.

Is flying the flag at consumers an outdated concept?

But even if a Buy British campaign was launched tomorrow, the message could not and would not be as simple as it sounds.

Firstly, how does the consumer define and then find a truly British product? Would it be enough to know it was designed in Britain, or assembled in Britain, or made from only British parts or ingredients or components?

It's a confusing business, and not just for your average consumer. A government 'I'm Backing Britain' campaign to boost the economy in 1968 was tripped up when it was discovered that a batch of t-shirts made for the publicity drive had been made in Portugal.

Secondly, EU laws prevent marketing campaigns that would discriminate against imports from other EU countries on account of their origin.

But other countries don't "hide behind" competition laws in this way, says Andy Smith of British Made for Quality - a consortium of businesses that campaigns for consumers to be given an informed choice about when they are genuinely buying British.

Those involved mark their products with the BMFQ logo, with the aim of letting buyers know the product is British made.

Made in the USA, err, UK

"It's absurd to think that its somehow unfashionable to support your own industry. Can you imagine the French or the Americans not supporting theirs?" he says.

"We don't claim that buying British is always the answer, and we don't want to put up barriers, but we argue that companies here are striving for quality and without a doubt things can be produced well here."

'I'm Backing Britain' t-shirts were made in Portugal, it was found

They often call on government and industry leaders to play their part by adopting 'national preference policies' but claim their cause attracts little support.

It's a tricky issue to approach. Manufacturing union Amicus says its current policy is to support British industry and jobs, but not necessarily through asking people to 'buy British'.

"Lots of foreign companies support British jobs," said an Amicus spokesman. "In any case, it's difficult to define what is buying British, and these things can often be hijacked by political groups.

"It can depend on how it's presented. TV chefs trying to encourage people to buy locally produced food is an example of where it's probably good to support the local economy, but to make sweeping statements can be more problematic."

Bye, British

It can even be construed as a race issue, says managing director of the Earlex Group, Julian Baseley, who was at the forefront of establishing BMFQ.

"Waving the flag and saying 'this is British' can somehow be seen as racist, but it's only in this country that this seems to happen. In Germany they are proud of their Bosch products, in the US goods will say 'proudly made in the USA'.

"I was accused during a radio interview of sending the country back to the dark ages with the BMFQ logo, but all we are trying to do is give a guarantee of quality."

Even his firm's home hardware products are only made with about 95% of British components, he says, because some parts are simply no longer available in this country.

The group believe retailers deserve much of the blame for the manufacturing industry's "exodus" to the Far East, because they are driving prices down so hard.

"I find buyers for stores don't care whether the product is British, Chinese or whatever, they just look at the price.

"But I often get letters from consumers saying it's great that they can buy something they know is British. People don't just aspire to have the cheapest things they can get," he adds.

Signs of the times

But although consumers might occasionally display patriotism when shopping, is it enough to save the country's economy?

Having been involved in research into country branding, public relations expert Peter Walker draws a parallel with moves in South Africa to 're-brand' itself.

"It's one of the cleverest advertising campaigns I've seen. They had a fractured society that quite deliberately decided it had to pull itself together.

"As well as trying to do this culturally and politically they also put a lot of work into providing a platform that made everybody in the country start to think they were proud to be South African. For example, everybody was supportive of moves to bid for the Rugby World Cup."

He says the Olympics in Britain are being sold more bluntly as a "good thing".

"I don't want someone coming up to me and telling me to take a nasty pill because it's good for me.

"These things have to be more holistic - you have to get people feeling good about Britain first."

He adds: "Whether that applies to goods and services too I don't know, but it's not a very big jump."

Do you go out of your way to buy British? Yes? No? Why? Add your comments to this story using the form below:

I make every effort to buy British. Not only does it mean that jobs in this country are more secure, but there is an environmental benefit too since goods do not have to transported so far, resulting in fewer emissions and traffic on the roads. There is no excuse for buying food from outside the country when perfectly good alternatives are already her Lamb from New Zealand is crazy, as is bottled water from Fiji (and France!). These things are available in every supermarket and people often buy them, to the detriment of not only the country but the world as a whole.
Dominic Tristram, UK

When I was young (just after the end of the second world war) Made in Britain meant quality, Made in Japan meant junk. Sadly, today it is the other way round.
Alan, England

Why do we still assume that everything in Britain is the best? That we play the best cricket, rugby (obviously not) and manufacture the best items? I've just replaced my car - with a Toyota. It's wonderful, a quality product. Prior to that I always had French cars but the build quality was going downhill so I changed. My friend who works for M&S said they had more faulty British made clothes returned than those made abroad. British-made items will have to prove themselves to me before I change my habits. It's my money and I'll spend it where I like thank you.
Helen, UK

Just saying Buy British is innane and does not explain what happens.I feel it is better to make people aware of how much money is leaking away from Britain if they buy a product from abroad - money that cannot be used to buy from the company that employs them and thus pay their wages.
Tim, London

I always try to buy British-made products where I can - it's not particularly easy but neither is it as difficult as some people claim - if you look carefully you might be surprised as how many products are still made here. Having said that I'll only buy the British product if the quality and price is similar to rival foreign products. If a foreign product offers the same or better quality for less, I'll buy that - I'm not going to support a company that isn't making good enough products because ultimately they're going to fail anyway and I'm not going to be ripped off just because the product is made here. I think we should all try to support local industry when it's well-run - people do it in other countries, why not here?
Steve Bassett, Birmingham, England

Buying British to support the British economy is very introspective. As bad as we think our economy may be, we have to remember that we are by far better off than most parts of the world. Goods from India might be cheaper, but they are (hopefully) bouying up the Indian economy, and improving the quality of life there. Rather than focusing on finding the cheapest price, or most local supplier, we should put invest more in third world economies and give them better wages.
Ian Ferguson, Southampton, UK

I did buy a Rover because it was British. I wanted to support a local industry. If I had known that all I was doing was helping a few fat cats line their pockets I wouldn't have bothered. Their car was excellent, so I am not complaining, too much!
Mick, Birmingham, England

I went to my boss' 25th wedding anniversary in Birmingham during the last Rover crisis. I nearly got lynched for pointing out that, despite urging us to 'buy British' there wasn't one single Rover in the car park.
Sean Keeney, England

Buy British - if you can find it! I stopped on my way to work to buy some apples, for my lunch. Of the 10 varieties on sale, only one was from UK - and they were cooking apples.
Nigel, Cheshire, UK

Helen and others who are so keen to put down British products should just ask themselves if Toyota (in Derby), Honda (in Swindon) and Nissan (In Sunderland) manufacture UK vehicles. Likewise, is the Mini (Oxford) British or German?
Ted , UK

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