Sewing Bee host Patrick Grant on his General Election hopes

He said business "had a positive role to play in society" but he was firmly opposed to Conservative neo-liberal economic policy of "business doing whatever it likes in order to make the most money."

"I think this has been one of the most harmful administrations in the history of British politics," said the 52-year-old, who set up an ethical clothing brand Community Clothing in 2016, which sources all its knitwear from Scottish factories.

'The Conservatives have been a disaster for this country' (Image: Harper Collins)

"Between austerity and Brexit and the way Covid was handled, they have been a disaster for this country.

"Brexit had a terribly damaging effect on British business - absolutely disastrous - apart from the finance industry who might be able to keep a bit more of their money in their pockets.

"I want a government that actually cares about people and their work and our society rather than a government that all it thinks about is making a lot of money for a few people," added the businessman and author, who has said he lives contentedly on a salary of around £50,000.

Born in Edinburgh, he completed a degree in material sciences at Leeds University before studying for a MBA degree at Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.

He relaunched E. Tautz & Sons as a ready-to-wear label in 2009, for which he was awarded the Menswear Designer award at the British Fashion Awards in 2010 and designed a collection for Debenhams before the stores were all closed.

He didn't disclose who would get his vote in the July 4 General Election but said in the past he had put an X in the box for Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.

Patrick with his Sewing Bee side-kick Esme Young (Image: PA)

"I believe that business has a positive role to play in society," he said.

"We should be building businesses that help all citizens in this country live a better life. And that is at odds with the Tory idea of neo-liberal economic policy which is that business can do whatever it likes in order for it to make the most amount of money.

"That is an irrelevance to most people in society because none of it benefits them.

"I don't mind who gets in as long as it's not this lot," he added.

In 2015 he purchased 19th-century Blackburn clothing manufacturer Cookson & Clegg, saving the factory from closure. 

"My business used to be a military clothing manufacturer and then [all that] was moved overseas in order to save one bit of government a bit of money," he said.

"But of course it ends up costing other bits of government extra money because it put a load of people on the dole and then it costs the NHS a bunch more money because that bunch of people aren't going to be as healthy physically or mentally.

Patrick Grant says his Musselburgh-born grandfather inspired his ethical clothing firm Community Clothing (Image: Martini Archive)

"It just doesn't make any sense to me."

He said he has been delighted by the response to his new book, published by HarperCollins last month, which explores society's shift to fast fashion and throwaway goods.

Patrick Grant says we should all be more mindful of our buying habits (Image: Harper Collins)

"We all know some of this story," he said.

"We all know that the consumption levels - especially in the fashion industry - are pretty crazy. I think we are all sort of aware that offshoring has had a really big impact on the price of stuff but people hadn't really put it all together.

"I think some people are aware that stuff feels a bit crappier than it used to. 

Quite a few young people are now saying 'f*** you to the fast fashion brands - whatyou are selling is garbage.

"The book has only been out five weeks but I'm getting a lot of comments from people who said they hadn't really quite put it all together.

"All of these things - work, equality and consumption - are connected and when you look at the sum of all the things that have happened over the past 50 years you see - none of it is very good."

He recognises that it is difficult to persuade young people - particularly those from lower-income backgrounds - to resist fast fashion brands that charge as little as 99p for an item of clothing.

"I think it's a very hard argument to win with young people," he said.

"If the cheap stuff had been there when I was young I probably would have done the same. I don't criticise [young people] for doing that but lots and lots of us do know better and should act differently.

"The pressure that this put on kids to dress in new stuff all the time is entirely manufactured and I think if they realised that it was being manufactured specifically to con them out of their cash they might resist.

"Quite a few young people are now saying 'f*** you to the fast fashion brands - what you are selling is garbage."

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He said he was shocked after being shown a Primark t-shirt which had "re-wear" next to the washing instruction  "as if we have to be told that clothes should be worn twice."

While he has been described as "anti-fashion" he is hugely supportive of the "creative talent and craftsmanship" that goes into pieces produced by major designers.

"As long as it has a long-term value then that is not a problem because if you don't like it anymore, someone else will," said the Sewing Bee host, who is an honorary professor at Glasgow Caledonian University.

He says Scotland's renowned textile industry is well supported by the industry but we as consumers could do more.

His paternal grandfather worked as a yarn designer in Galashiels and provided the inspiration for Community Clothing which sources all its knitwear from three Scottish factories.

"He was the Border council development officer and his job was to try to bring new industry in to replace the jobs that had been lost when clothing manufacture was offshored," he said.

"I worked out that if you got half of all British schoolkids wearing British-made woollen jumpers you could re-employ every single person who lost their job in the Borders knitwear industry in the last 50 years.

"Really simple decisions could have a radically, positive impact on our society and economy.

"If we want the industry to continue to thrive we have to support it."

Patrick Grant will appear at Edinburgh International Science Festival in April 2025