Lord Trefgarne
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Defence: British Steel
Lord Trefgarne Excerpts(5 years, 6 months ago)
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Earl Howe
My Lords, looking at recent warship procurement programmes, it is generally true to say that steel has been sourced from abroad in cases where UK steel suppliers have not been able to produce steel to the required grade. If one sets that issue aside, UK producers have generally proved to be very competitive, as demonstrated by the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier programme, for which 88% of the structural steel was sourced from UK mills.
Lord Trefgarne (Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend anticipate any difference to the defence procurement rules following Brexit?
Earl Howe
My Lords, at the moment, as my noble friend will know, it is a matter of law that all ships not classified as warships are procured through international competition. After we leave the EU, it will be open to us to decide whether to continue with that practice as a matter of policy, but we will be guided in our thinking by the need to strike the best balance between value for money and protecting national security.