Unions have won an unlikely ally in their campaign for a government industrial strategy after right-wing lobbyists Civitas warned Britain faces losing thousands of manufacturing jobs. 

Its “picking winners” report warned Con-Dem coalition leaders to abandon free-market ideology or see Britain hemorrhage jobs to countries like Brazil, China and Japan.

Author Kaveh Pourvand called on ministers to take inspiration from post-WWII investment in the aerospace and automotive industries. 

He said: “What is required now is a similar ethos, not of ‘big’ or ‘all-knowing’ government but bold government, prepared to take the steps necessary today to ensure economic success tomorrow.

“The coalition could and should be more ambitious in its industrial policy.”

The call for action comes after the latest gross domestic product figures showed production industries made up just 0.1 per cent of  0.8 per cent quarterly growth.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It’s encouraging that even right-wing think tanks like Civitas are following the TUC’s long-standing call for a more active industrial policy, led by government.

“Civitas is right to say that the government’s lack of ambition in supporting new industries is already costing us jobs and will cost the UK economy even more in the future unless we catch up with our competitors.”

Ms O’Grady did however take issue with the report’s “bizarre” claim that former Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher was a champion of industrial strategy.

Conflicted Mr Pourvand pointed out examples of successful nationalised industries yet went on to praise Thatcher for being “proactive.” 

Labour MP Michael Meacher told the Star that deregulation and privatisation overseen by Thatcher was to blame for Britain’s weak position. 

“The whole principal of neoliberal capitalism that arose in the 1980s was based on the belief that we didn’t need an industrial strategy because it can be left to the market,” he said. 

“As the developing nations have come on our share was bound to reduce but it has reduced far faster than it has in the case of countries like Germany and France.”

The former employment minister outlined his vision for an “economic renaissance” in his recently released book the State We Need.

And he added: “Services are never going to be enough by themselves and the only way to live within our means is by the restoration of the manufacturing industry.”

Mr Meacher argued that a Labour government should establish “national economic councils,” including business people and trade union leaders, to agree the “best prospects for increasing British manufacturing.”

A government spokesman said: “The government has committed over £4 billion to industrial strategy to support long-term growth.”