THE Government came under renewed fire last night over its policy towards manufacturing.

Union leader Tony Woodley warned that Britain risked becoming a country without manufacturing within a generation unless measures were taken to help industry.

The general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union said the nation would be crippled without its manufacturing backbone.

He said: "We cannot survive as a nation of lawyers and business consultants alone."

Mr Woodley said manufacturing jobs were being lost at the rate of 140,000 a year, which left workers with a bleak future.

Speaking at a conference in London, he said: "Britain is not the only country affected by offshoring, but it is the only one where the Government says that nothing can be done about it."

Mr Woodley said he was disappointed at the lack of support for manufacturing from the Government.

"Other countries, including the US, France and Germany, act to protect their manufacturing base."

The comments were welcomed by Alan Hall, regional director of the Engineering Employers Federation.

While he thought the union leader's prediction was alarmist, he said the Government needed to be more aware about the long-term problems faced by industry. He said: "If he can get the Government working more closely with the manufacturing sector, that would be welcomed."

The manufacturing sector is enjoying a more robust period, with research indicating confidence is high.

But it is accepted that the industry's stability is affected by a lack of skilled labour.

Mr Hall criticised the Government's policy of setting targets for the number of youngsters it wants to see enrol at university.

Instead, he said, teenagers should be encouraged to follow more vocational paths if that was more suited to their personal skills and abilities.

Mr Hall said: "Tony Woodley's intervention is welcome if it causes the Government to realise that putting 50 per cent of our young people into a university-based education is wrong-headed.

"There is no right percentage of young men and women that should be going through university training.

"Instead, there are some marvellous opportunities for young people to enter engineering and manufacturing."

A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry said: "The Government does not accept that the future of manufacturing is bleak.

"All recent business surveys on manufacturing have been positive.

"There are, of course, still challenges for manufacturing, but the industry is much more confident about the future."