The problem with British industry is not that we can't do the job from a practical piont of view but that the city is sutch a short term investor that the money is not avalable for investment.
To see what british engineering can do all you have to do is look at F1, most of the cars are built in the UK as are the engines but perhaps this is not a typical example.
A far better example would be the Triumph motorcycle brand, in the 70's the byword for under investment with a product based on a bike first built in 1938 with a production line to match.
This week the headline in Motor Cycle News is "Triumph is king!" rating the latest Speed Triple the best bike in it's class above the best that Italy & Japan has to offer.
Triumph has emerged from a failing industry only because one businessman had the vision to invest in state of the art development and production, it has taken more than twenty years of hard work to reach the top of the business, unfortunatly most city investors won't wait that long and so british industry fails simply because it can't get the money for R & D or modern production equipment. The thinking in the city is just too short term.