The time has come for the industry to stand up and challenge the growing consensus about the need for slashing public spending.
While we can all agree on the need for cuts to sort out the public finances, we must make sure they are the right kind.
Cuts must be targeted at the battalions of civil servants running bloated public services, not the millions of people working to improve the UK built environment.
If the industry accepts, no matter how grudgingly, it is in for the chop then the battle will already be lost. Between now and the election construction cannot ever be allowed to be viewed as an easy target for the axe.
That is why the entire industry must throw its unified weight behind the UK Contractors Group's effort to set the record straight. At long last the industry is armed with detailed research about what construction really does for the UK economy.
The succinct Construction in the Economy: the Benefits of Investment report spells out a compelling economic case in pounds and pence why construction must be spared.
It amounts to a battle cry for commonsense. Its ammunition, a detailed list of benefits that would challenge any rationally-minded politician into thinking again about what construction contributes.
From now on the industry mantra is every £1 spent on construction directly delivers a £3 rise in GDP.
The fight back starts here.
Subscribe to CJ's blog by RSS