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I'm Backing Britain
''I'm Backing Britain'' was a brief patriotic campaign, which flourished in early 1968, aimed at boosting the British economy. The campaign started spontaneously when five Surbiton secretaries volunteered to work an extra half an hour each day without pay in order to boost productivity, and urged others to do the same. This invitation received an enormous response and a campaign took off spectacularly, becoming a nationwide movement within a week. Trade unions were suspicious of, and some directly opposed to, the campaign as an attempt to extend working hours surreptitiously, and to hide inefficiency by management.
The campaign received official endorsement by the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, but found being perceived as Government-endorsed was double-edged. The Union Flag logo encouraged by the campaign became highly visible on the high streets, and attempts were made to take over the campaign by Robert Maxwell who wanted to change its focus into an appeal to 'Buy British'; however the campaign's own t-shirts were made in Portugal. After a few months without any noticeable effect on individual companies or the economy generally, interest flagged amid much embarrassment about some of the ways in which the campaign had been pursued and supported. It has come to be regarded as an iconic example of a failed attempt to transform British economic prospects.
==Economic background==
The year 1967 had seen the British economy suffering from several difficulties. Despite tax increases announced in July 1966, the 1967 budget had set the greatest deficit in post-war history of £1,000m.〔"New Thinking At The Treasury" (leader column), ''The Times'', 13 April 1967, p. 23.〕 Each month, the Board of Trade published figures of the 'balance of trade' between exports and imports which seemed to show an ever increasing deficit,〔A monthly average of a £9m deficit in 1966 and in the first quarter of 1967 increased to £40m in the second quarter, £27m in August, and £52m in September. See Peter Jay, "Trade deficit increases to £52m", ''The Times'', 13 October 1967, p. 17.〕 The closure of the Suez Canal after the Six-Day War hit exporters, as did an unofficial dock strike which broke out at the end of September.〔"Dock strikes stop one third of exports", ''The Times'', 13 October 1967, p. 17.〕 Having put up the bank rate to 6% on 19 October,〔Keith Payne, "6% Bank rate to defend pound", ''The Times'', 20 October 1967, p. 19.〕 on 18 November, the Government abandoned three years of attempting to maintain the exchange rate and devalued the Pound sterling from $2.80 to $2.40. Although an economic defeat, devaluation was perceived as an export opportunity which British industry needed to seize.
Arising out of devaluation, John Boyd-Carpenter (Conservative Member of Parliament for Kingston-upon-Thames) wrote to ''The Times'' in a letter published on 13 December 1967 suggesting that "If a number of people, particularly in responsible positions, would set by an example by sacrificing say the first Saturday of every month and working on that morning without extra pay, profits or overtime, it would give an example to others at home, and show the world that we were in earnest". He complained that capital equipment stood idle from Friday afternoon to Monday morning.〔John Boyd-Carpenter, "Why the pound is weak" (letter), ''The Times'', 13 December 1967, p. 11. The phrase "set by an example by" is quoted accurately.〕
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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