British Steel

Debate between Earl of Effingham and Baroness Gustafsson

Thursday 24th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

There is an immediate and a long-term challenge here. The immediate-term one is working to make sure that British Steel has the raw materials that it needs to be able to keep those blast furnaces running. The UK does not have any operational coke ovens, so we are unable to change domestically mined coal into the coke that is required for blast furnaces. This means we are required to import it. There have been questions about whether we can be thinking about a Cumbria development to be able to source some of that, and it has been explored, but the current assessment is that coal from the Whitehaven mine, for example, has too high a sulphur content for British Steel’s needs.

[The Earl of Effingham (Con)]

The Minister has talked about transparency and updates, so may I please ask her—and I do not expect her to have this to hand now—for more detailed information? There are many noble Lords who would greatly appreciate seeing a very simple spreadsheet showing us the inputs and why it is apparently costing £700,000 per day to run this operation. Can she commit to providing us with the numbers so we can see where the costs are coming from, why and whether we can have a viable ongoing concern that might even break even?

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

Creating an ongoing, viable concern is absolutely the aspiration for the sector, not necessarily with regard to British Steel specifically, but the much broader sector. As I said earlier, we have the immediate-term question of how we make sure that the day-to-day operation of British Steel is ongoing and running. That second longer-term piece is how we make it a financially sustainable industry and one that is able to wash its own face economically. To that part, that is where that steel strategy is really core. With regard to the specifics of what we are spending in the here and now, that is absolutely information that will be made available within part of the department’s accounts when they are published.

UK-US Trade and Tariffs

Debate between Earl of Effingham and Baroness Gustafsson

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

We need to think about what those defence options are for particular sectors and how we protect particular industries, such as the steel sector. There are remedies to make sure that we protect some of those key, leading industries that we need to think about. However, I strongly believe that there is an opportunity to expand our trading relationships with nations such as the US off the back of this. A firm commitment to doing our best to secure a trade deal with the US is still the safest and most secure economic way of navigating this challenging path.

[The Earl of Effingham (Con)]

The Statement says:

“The final part of our approach will be to turbo-boost the work this Government are doing to make our economy stronger”.


Does the Minister agree that, with all due respect, 0.1% of GDP growth in the UK economy since July 2024 is not achieving that goal? What will her priority be to fix it?

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

My Lords, 0.1% GDP growth is not enough. This Government have made no apology for putting growth as their number one priority. I think all sides of this House agree that driving up growth can only benefit the UK and the people operating within it. We take it incredibly seriously, which is why conversations such as this feel so at odds with trying to create an industry that thrives in and benefits from an open and free trade environment. It is why many of us feel sad as we think about tariffs, or reciprocal tariffs as a headwind to them.

But we can secure an agreement with the US that allows us to navigate through this. There will come a time when we look back on this in the rear-view mirror and we are able to establish and support a lot of those sectors that we rely on to support growth. We will hold dear a lot of the principles that we have already written down and they will steer us through that, whether it is things such as the industrial strategy or going through and identifying those core sectors that the Government will wrap their arms around and support to make sure that our growth numbers are not 0.1% or 0.2% but 1%, 2% and then beyond as we really try to support it.

But I know that it is not a quick fix. I understand that we cannot just go to the growth cupboard in the corner and take growth out of it. A decision to turn to growth does not drive growth—multiple small cumulative decisions help turn the ship towards something that supports businesses and communities to grow. For example, it is about thinking about how in some instances regulation is acting as a headwind against growth and enabling things such as planning to make it easier for businesses to build factories and data centres in their communities to help drive that growth. We are seeing a lot of those initiatives to try to shape and encourage growth. However, I share the sadness that sometimes, it feels as though, when we are in a world talking about tariffs, that works against some of that growth agenda.