Steel Industry

Lord Bishop of Lincoln Excerpts

2nd reading
Saturday 12th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Lincoln]

My Lords, I welcome the attention that the Government are paying to this matter in recognising the gravity of the situation we face. At a time of tariffs, threats to jobs and wider economic uncertainty, it is vital to safeguard the steel industry while transitioning towards a greener future. Production of steel is vital to the well-being and identity of Scunthorpe, a place I am proud to serve as bishop. That is before we consider its importance to our national infrastructure, recognising the need for connectivity through our railways in order to see one another, stimulate our economy and reduce regional disparities. Protecting these jobs and the vital work done through them required action that has not appeared to be forthcoming from private investment. I wish the Government well in their endeavours, which are not without cost.

We are learning something about the state of our economy a quarter of the way through this century. When we have some distance from the immediate challenge we face today, I urge this House to engage in a broader conversation about economic trends and our role in shaping them as well as responding to them. We heard from the Minister that a former brickworks will become a theme park that could create 28,000 jobs and attract 8.5 million visitors per year. I raise this not to pass judgment on that particular investment—who among us would be upset by the prospect of a theme park featuring both James Bond and Paddington Bear on one site?—but I note what it says about our economy, which year by year seems driven more and more by the delivery of goods and services, especially through entertainment. While our economy is changing before our eyes, the need for a secure manufacturing base is essential, all the more so given global pressures and the attendant disruption to our economic and political norms.

I conclude by turning away from global headwinds and back towards the communities I live among in Lincolnshire. Naturally, my prayers are with the many people who will feel uncertainty and anxiety about the present and the future. They will require a response that is pastoral as well as practical. In our churches, we will seek to respond in love and to share the hope we hold on to, doing so now as we approach the disconsolation of Good Friday and the joy of resurrection on Easter Day.

In response to this issue, I encourage the Government to remember the pastoral issues alongside the practical measures they are outlining today. The two are linked and getting this right will require the Government to engage with local partners on the ground, including the combined authority and the voluntary and community sector, to ensure that we are able to respond together to the impact of what is happening to a resilient but fragile community.