UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-04-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): It is a shame that the hon. Lady has taken this attitude. Instead of working together, she seems much more interested in taking cheap political shots—at the process, rather than the substance. I suggest she learns from her friend the First Minister of Wales, who has been nothing but constructive and positive in his approach The hon. Lady talks about Labour’s long-running concern for the steel industry, so let us look at the facts. During Labour’s last term in office between 1997 and 2010, 40,000 jobs were lost in the British steel industry, with output more than halved. During those 13 years, the hon. Member for Wallasey (Ms Eagle) mentioned the word ‘steel’ twice in the House of Commons, while the current Leader of the Opposition did not manage to mention that word once during that period. The hon. Lady talks about her long-running concern, but in the last Parliament, how many times did the then Leader of the Opposition, the shadow Chancellor and the shadow Business Secretary between them manage to mention the word ‘steel’? Not once—not once in five years. I suggest once again that the hon. Lady should end the cheap political shots and work in a constructive manner with this Government because the hard-working people in this industry deserve nothing less The hon. Lady talks about an industrial strategy. We have dozens of sector councils and we set up the steel council. We are interested not in picking winners, but in doing what works—not ideology, but what actually works. Since 2010, manufacturing is up, exports are up and employment is up. For example, our auto and aerospace industries, both users of British steel, are having their best years ever. I suggest that the hon. Lady spend a little less time obsessing about whether this support is called a strategy or a policy and spend a little more time celebrating the stunning success of British industry The hon. Lady asked about the actions we have taken so far. Action has been taken on energy costs and compensation for energy-intensive industries, which will now be moving towards a policy of exemption. We have provided flexibility on emissions regulations, and we have changed procurement policies, which now apply to all parts of the public sector. We have taken action on unfair trading, which the hon. Lady has asked for. A total of 37 measures are in place at the moment, 16 of which concern China. When it comes to trade measures, we are interested in measures that actually work. If we look at the measures on rebar, we find Chinese imports down 99%; on wire rod, they are down 90% and on seamless tubes and pipes, they are down 80% In determining what works, we will be driven by the evidence. The evidence is clear that so far, the way in which the EU has acted works, but we want it to act faster. As I said in my statement and say again, we are not interested in rewriting the whole rulebook for trade; when it comes to steel, we are interested in taking action that works. If the hon. Lady and others have suggestions that are focused on steel, I will of course listen The hon. Lady talked about timing in respect of the Tata strip sale. We have had discussions with Tata. The key discussion was the one that took place in Mumbai where Tata said that, although it does not have an unlimited amount of time, which is something that we of course understand, it is not putting a set timeframe in place, and it will work to ensure that a reasonable amount of time is made available to find a buyer. Today, it will release more information on the sales process. I believe that Tata’s actions will reflect that The hon. Lady asked about the support that the Government are willing to provide in order to secure a sale. The Government have been working on this for weeks. Because the decision by Tata was commercially very sensitive, we were not able to discuss it in Parliament earlier. As I have made clear, the Government are looking at a number of areas, including power supply, pensions, plant and infrastructure. In doing so, we will work with the unions, the trustees of the pension plan and the Welsh Government to come forward with the best offer we possibly can The hon. Lady asked about nationalisation. Let me be clear: we have not ruled anything out. I have been clear about that. We are also clear, however, that the best steel operators in the world are commercially and privately run and that nationalisation is rarely the answer. We are working towards finding a commercial buyer to ensure the long-term future of Port Talbot and all the other parts of Tata Steel I could not be clearer in saying that steelmaking is a vital industry for the UK. It is important for our economic security and our national security. I do not want to live in a country that relies on importing all its steel. None of us wants to do that. That is why we will do everything we can to secure a future for steel, because the hard-working men and women in this industry deserve nothing less.