Buying British

I recently saw an article on a couple proudly buying only British made products. I can see the benefits to the UK economy, but shouldn't we be thinking bigger, shouldn't we be widening our trading potential rather than shrinking it. After all, the worlds economies are ultimately connected.

You can buy British made silk ties, but the silk itself will still come from China or India. Maybe if their tie sales to UK distributors drop by 60%,  the price of silk on the roll will go up, and in a couple of years your tie is 'British made' but double or even triple the price.

Maybe we should concentrate more on the quality of the product, its energy footprint and whether we actually need it - what are ties for anyway?!