A BILL giving the Government emergency powers to take operational control of the Chinese-owned steelmaking plant at Scunthorpe moved from approval to Royal Assent in only six-and-a half hours on Saturday, after debates in each Houses of Parliament heard concerns about short- and long-term effects of its closure.
In an announcement on Saturday, the Prime Minister said: “Today, my government has stepped in to save lots of British Steel. We’re acting to guard the roles of 1000’s of employees and all options are on the table to secure the long run of the industry.”
The Chinese company Jingye had estimated the plant to be losing £700,000 a day, and had rejected the Government’s support offer of £500 million. The Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, told MPs, who had been recalled: “It became clear that the intention of Jingye was to refuse to buy sufficient raw materials to maintain the blast furnaces running. In fact, their intention was to cancel and refuse to pay for existing orders. The company would subsequently have irrevocably and unilaterally closed down primary steelmaking at British Steel.”
Once cooled, the furnaces can be prohibitively expensive to restart. Supplies of raw materials are sitting at Immingham, awaiting payment from Jingye.
The Conservative MP for Brigg and Immingham, Martin Vickers, said: “I’ve been a resident within the Grimsby-Cleethorpes area all my life, and I’ve seen the impact when a town loses its core industry. When that decline happens, it takes a generation or perhaps more for the town to totally get well. This is the very last thing I need to see occur in my neighbouring constituency of Scunthorpe.”
A fifth-generation steelworker had told the Labour MP for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, Lee Pitcher, that this was in regards to the town’s identity. “British Steel, Scunthorpe, is the beating heart of the realm, and over the previous couple of years that beating heart has began to slow. . . With every skip of that beating heart, people lose hope, and we cannot let people lose hope.”
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour) told the Lords: “We won’t abandon the hard-working steel-making communities which have given a lot to each our economy and country. We don’t accept the argument that steel-making has no future within the UK. We know that rebuilding our steel industry brings its justifiable share of challenges, but we consider that they’re price facing, and that we’re greater than prepared to beat them.”
The Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, said: “At a time of tariffs, threats to jobs, and wider economic uncertainty, it’s critical to safeguard the steel industry while transitioning towards a greener future. Production of steel is important to the well-being and identity of Scunthorpe, a spot I’m proud to function Bishop.”
While welcoming the recent announcement of a latest theme park to be built on the positioning of a former brickworks near Bedford, he reflected: “I note what it says about our economy, which, 12 months by 12 months, seems driven an increasing number of by the delivery of products and services, especially through entertainment.
“Our economy is changing before our eyes. . . The need for a secure manufacturing base is crucial, all of the more so given global pressures and the attendant disruption to our economic and political norms.
“My prayers are with the various individuals who will feel uncertainty and anxiety in regards to the present and the long run. They would require a response that’s pastoral in addition to practical. In our churches, we’ll seek to reply in love and to share the hope we hold on to, doing so now as we approach the disconsolation of Good Friday and the enjoyment of resurrection on Easter Day.”
Concerns were expressed in each Houses in regards to the wider economic cost. Others took an extended view. Lord Fox (Labour) said: “Owning and running a steel business ought to be a long-term enterprise. It ought to be measured in a long time, not months.
“Steel is just not a bit-part player in our industrial economy. If Britain is to have a green and long-term industrial strategy, and whether it is to have a defence industrial strategy, it needs steel.”
