Angela Eagle
Main Page: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Ms Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and for giving me advance sight of it. I also welcome the good news today on the sale of the long products division at Scunthorpe after nine months of negotiations. I note that the Business Secretary is claiming this as a Government success. In fact, it is down to the hard work of the steel unions and the plant management, one of whom has said:
“We needed massive help from the Government and that has not been forthcoming”.
Since the House rose for the Easter recess, the problems in the UK steel industry have turned into a full-blown existential crisis, and the Government and this Business Secretary have been found wanting. When I met workers at Port Talbot on 18 March, it was obvious that the mood was darkening, and they were increasingly worried about the likely outcome of the Tata board meeting on 29 March in Mumbai. Indeed, my hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock) was so concerned that he flew to Mumbai with the general secretary of the Community union to meet Tata directly.
Where was the Business Secretary at this crucial moment? Was he fighting tooth and nail to ensure the future of a UK foundation industry? He was not. We all now know that he was on his way to Australia to fulfil a few pleasant engagements down under, outrageously leaving his junior Minister to take all the flak back home. It is this laissez-faire approach—this incompetence, this inaction—that has characterised his response to the crisis from the beginning. He has claimed he was caught unaware by Tata’s decision to sell its entire UK steelmaking operations, putting at risk up to 40,000 UK jobs, but Labour Members have been warning for months that there was a gathering emergency and that it was coming to a head. Labour MPs have raised steel issues no fewer than 200 times since the general election a year ago and we have been fobbed off with warm words and no effective action month after month. The Business Secretary’s indifference destroyed the prospect of future steelmaking in Redcar, an act of industrial vandalism that will not be forgiven in the north-east for a very long time.
The Government have been accused of “floundering” and issuing “contradictory and meaningless statements”, and that is by one of their own Back Benchers, the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone). Since the steel crisis made the front pages, we have had a sudden shift from torpor to hyperactivity. From an ideological disinclination to get involved because of their free market dogma, there appears at last to be a recognition by the Government that this could be an existential moment for the whole of the UK manufacturing base. I welcome the long overdue admission from the Government that it is their duty to help to find a future for UK steelmaking. I just hope it is not a case of too little, too late. If the Business Secretary is now finally telling the House that he has suddenly overcome his ideological distaste for Government action, then we say, “About time.”
Given that the Scunthorpe deal took nine months, can the Secretary of State tell the House how long Tata is willing to keep the Port Talbot plant operational while a buyer is found? Will he confirm that it is the Government’s intention to ensure that any sale is of integrated operations? Does the Secretary of State agree that if jobs and skills are to be retained in the industry, it is crucial that the UK retains the capacity to make as well as recycle and process steel? What steps will he now take, therefore, to ensure that the blast furnaces at Port Talbot will remain in operation under a new owner? What support are the Government willing to make available to assist in securing a successful sale to a responsible owner?
If he has not already done so, will the Secretary of State undertake today to contact all those in the current customer base and reassure them that the plants have a viable future and will remain open for business, so that they can be confident enough to continue placing orders? What is the Government’s plan B for UK steelmaking if no responsible buyer can be found in the timeframe immediately available? The Business Secretary has previously ruled out temporary nationalisation, but his junior Minister has not. Which is it?
On the dumping of Chinese steel, will the Secretary of State now urgently reconsider his opposition to the repeal of the lesser duty rule? Will he do so especially in the light of the tariffs that the Chinese have provocatively imposed on some EU-produced specialist steel?
Finally, on procurement, the coalition Government scrapped the defence industrial strategy, which made British jobs and industries the first priority in all decisions on Ministry of Defence contracts. With a £178 billion MOD budget for defence equipment over the next 10 years, will the Government now change that and ensure that this investment supports the British steel industry?
Sajid Javid
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.