UK Steel Industry
Debate between Angela Eagle and Jonathan Edwards(8 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)
Will the hon. Lady give way?
Jonathan Edwards
I am grateful to the hon. Lady, who has been extremely generous in giving way, and I am more than happy to support the motion. Is she aware of the work of the devolved Government of Wallonia in Belgium, who have a strategy to protect their steel industry, encompassing an investment fund, an innovative research plant and clear protective measures for steelworkers? Should the Labour Welsh Government pursue a similar strategy?
Ms Eagle
The hon. Gentleman has pointed out that, in some places in Europe, there may exist an industrial strategy, and we could do with one in this country.
Far from fighting for the UK’s interests, as they would have us believe they are doing, the Government are actually a leading part of a group of EU countries that have moved to block reform of the lesser duty rule. Let us look at the record to date. The European Commission proposed strengthening trade defence instruments in April 2013 to protect Europe from Chinese dumping. That was endorsed by the European Parliament in February 2014. It was then blocked in the Trade Council in November 2014. It was the UK Government who successfully assembled a group of 15 other EU countries to oppose that crucial reform. The Government objected primarily to the abolition of the lesser duty rule and to giving the Commission the ability to initiate anti-dumping proceedings on its own. Perhaps the Business Secretary will let us know whether today’s apparent agreement changes that stance? If it did, that would be most welcome, and it would certainly be a departure from the recent past.
When the Business Secretary was asked, in evidence to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee recently, about the Government’s blocking of reform, he said:
“If duties are applied that are disproportionate, it would have an impact, in Britain and elsewhere”.
However, Chinese dumping is having a devastating impact in Britain now. We do not need disproportionate tariffs; we need tariffs that will be effective and duties that will prevent the damage caused by illegal dumping. The Government should be arguing for such duties, not conniving with 15 other EU countries to block them.
On granting market economy status to China as part of its ongoing acceptance into the World Trade Organisation, the Chinese Government regard this as an automatic thing, but it certainly should not be. In fact, as many in this House will know, this status is granted only when the economic conditions in the country concerned have developed in such a way that it can be shown that prices and costs are genuine and can therefore be used to determine trade defence disputes. China currently meets only one of the five criteria required for this status to be granted, and yet the UK Government support granting market economy status to China as early as the end of this year.
Why is this? We already know that the Chancellor continues to be almost embarrassingly desperate to be China’s new best friend, but he must not pursue his infatuation so far that it excuses its unfair trade practices. Granting market economy status to China in the absence of important safeguards would significantly diminish the capacity of the EU to guard against Chinese dumping, which has the potential to destroy the UK steel industry, so it must not be granted until the criteria are objectively met. Will the Secretary of State tell us more about why the Government appear to have made their mind up already on this important issue in advance of the forthcoming assessment by the EU Commission? Surely they are not so intent on cosying up to China that they have left all judgment behind.
The Opposition motion calls on the Government to publish a full industrial strategy that is designed to support and grow our manufacturing sector, not just stand by as it is threatened by unfair competition. This should include a proactive procurement policy committed to using British steel wherever possible for publicly funded infrastructure projects and supporting industrial supply chains across the UK. Nothing less will do. In the forthcoming Budget, Labour would support the Government doing more on business rates and exempting new industrial equipment. An industrial strategy must be forward-looking and support our wider industrial base and its supply chains. That is why Labour would also support the Government in going further to develop a materials catapult to drive early-stage investment in this crucial area—an idea that has support from industry and business organisations such as the CBI. Labour Members certainly support it, and I hope that come the Budget we will hear from the Government that they support it too.
The Government are always keen on asserting that they have changed the procurement rules as one of the five steel industry asks that the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise blithely asserted during the recent urgent question on 18 January had all somehow been delivered. However, these new rules do not seem to be having any impact on actual outcomes. There is no sign that these modest technical changes are making any difference to the awarding of Government contracts to help our domestic industry. Perhaps that is because the new guidance merely states that steel requirements should be “openly advertised” to allow UK firms to compete. Britain’s steel industry needs a real champion in Government, but the Minister excuses the omission of British steel in projects like Hinkley Point C by claiming wrongly that UK steel does “not have this capacity”. I am beginning to worry about her connection with reality, especially after her appearance on “Pienaar’s Politics” yesterday when she claimed that there is no Tory infighting over the European Union and denied that the Prime Minister had attacked the Mayor of London in a speech last week. I do not know which planet she is on, but it is clearly not the same one that the rest of us inhabit.
The Conservatives have left our economy insufficiently resilient to global threats and not in a high enough state of readiness to seize on future opportunities. If they are to lay solid foundations for our future prosperity as a nation, they have to support our foundation industries. Decisions taken now will chart our economic fortunes for the decades to come. The UK steel industry does not need warm words from this Government: it needs effective action. Our steel communities need it, our economy needs it, and Labour Members demand it.