I'm Backing Britain

"I'm Backing Britain" was a brief patriotic campaign, which flourished in early 1968 and was aimed at boosting the British economy. The campaign started spontaneously when five Surbiton secretaries volunteered to work an extra half-hour each day without pay to boost productivity and urged others to do the same. The invitation received an enormous response and a campaign took off spectacularly; it became a nationwide movement within a week. Trade unions were suspicious of, or even opposed to, the campaign, considering it 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 it found that being perceived as government-endorsed was a mixed blessing. 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', but 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.

In 1967, the British economy suffered from several difficulties. Despite tax increases announced in July 1966, the 1967 budget had set the greatest deficit in post-war history of £1,000,000,000. 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. 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. Having put up the bank rate to 6 percent on 19 October, 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 it was an economic defeat, devaluation was perceived as an export opportunity that 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, "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.

On 27 December 1967, Fred Price (Marketing Director of Colt Ventilation and Heating Ltd) sent out a memo headed "General progress report", which assessed the company's economic prospects. Inspired by Boyd-Carpenter, he wrote that the balance of payments deficit would disappear overnight if the working population of the United Kingdom worked a five-and-a-half-day week without demanding higher incomes for the extra half-day. Price said that Britain would become once more the wealthiest country in the world.

The memo was received by five secretaries working in the company's head office in Surbiton, Valerie White, Joan Southwell, Carol Ann Fry, Christine French and Brenda Mumford. The next morning, they discussed it and Southwell said that she was willing to work an extra half-day a week. The others agreed, and White took the initiative of writing a reply, which she gave reference VW/OD GEN. The reply said, "What about starting this scheme of a five-and-a-half-day week? Let us be the first company to start the ball rolling". After discussing the suggestion with the other members of staff, on 29 December the 240 employees at the head office voted to report for work at 8.30 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. They also made contact with the workers employed at the company's factory in Havant, Hampshire, to encourage them to do the same.

Before the workers had a chance to work their first extra half-hour, their campaign had already begun "snowballing fast". Over the weekend of 30–31 December 1967, five other companies had already decided to follow their example, based in Portsmouth, Southend, Bicester and Manchester; others were telephoning to show their interest. The Duke of Edinburgh sent a telegram describing the campaign as "the most heartening news I heard in 1967" and wishing it success. There was a full turnout at 8:30 a.m. on 1 January at the Surbiton offices, and Havant worked their extra half-hour at the end of the day. Working with the company's managing director, Alan O'Hea, the five secretaries began to think up a slogan. After rejecting "I'm Behind Britain" for having the wrong message, they settled on "I'm Backing Britain". O'Hea then ordered (from Norprint of Boston, who supplied them free) 100,000 badges featuring a Union Flag with their slogan written across the centre and began writing to 30,000 employers to encourage them. The workers contacted leading political and industrial figures to ask for suggestions as to how others could help.