[addicted]

I don’t understand how the UK becomes a manufacturing economy without drastically lowering the standard of living.

And the Singapore on Thames from a regulatory perspective is a non starter. If someone is looking to operate out of a Singapore like nation why would they choose the UK? The only reason would be proximity to the EU but the EU will almost certainly erect massive barriers if the UK did anything of the sort. And so would the US. The US would almost certainly not allow the UK to undercut its already low standards.

Any other major country would be better served by simply locating yourself in Singapore or Dubai or the myriad SEZ’s countries the world over are setting up.