UK Steel Strategy

Debate between Peter Kyle and Harriett Baldwin

Thursday 19th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. The Conservatives very much believe in a sovereign steel industry, but what we see today is a multibillion-pound shot in the dark, and it heralds the end of primary steel production in the UK. Just to set the record straight, there would no longer be any steel production in Wales without action from the last Government. This steel strategy has no plan to make the industry stand on its own two feet, and it risks a permanent state-funded drain on taxpayers.

British Steel was losing £700,000 a day when the Government took emergency action last year, and now the taxpayer is losing an estimated £1.3 million a day and there is a subsidy of £110,000 per job to keep the Scunthorpe blast furnace operational. This steel strategy does not include any exit strategy, risking a permanent drain on taxpayers, and now the Government are negotiating handing taxpayers’ money to a Chinese business that they said was worth nothing, while hitting British users of steel with a 50% tariff hike. Given that the previous Secretary of State said that British Steel had zero value, will the current Secretary of State confirm whether compensation will be paid to Jingye?

How are these new tariffs going to affect the cost of living for our constituents? How much will the tariffs raise? They represent a massive tax hike on our world-leading automotive, defence and aerospace sectors, which will make building homes, bridges and railways more expensive. Have the Government carried out any impact assessment on the tariffs, and will jobs not be lost in those other sectors?

The Government say in the strategy that electric arc furnaces are the future, but without competitive energy, green steel will simply become no steel. If electric arc furnaces are the future, when will the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe be decommissioned, and how many jobs will be lost in that process? Where will the £2.5 billion go? Is it all going into the Scunthorpe blast furnaces? How is this £2.5 billion spending spree fiscally responsible? What is the Secretary of State cutting to pay for it?

The so-called National Wealth Fund is rapidly become the national slush fund. The shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), has announced our cheap power plan, which will slash energy bills for businesses and households. The Conservatives will axe the carbon tax, scrap extortionate subsidies for wind and solar, repeal the Climate Change Act 2008, and end the ban on new oil and gas licences to maximise domestic extraction and reduce dependence on foreign energy imports. Could the Secretary of State please copy this approach?

This is a Government who are subsidising decline and reaching for protectionist tariffs. After the botched nationalisation of Scunthorpe and the surrender of the Chagos islands, we can see from this steel strategy that when Labour negotiates, the British taxpayer loses.

[Peter Kyle]

I am glad to see the hon. Lady at the Dispatch Box. It is always an honour to have exchanges with her, as it has been for quite some time.

The hon. Lady mentions Wales, but she seems to have no idea about the breadth and depth of the steel industry across Wales. She seems to think that there is only one steel maker, manufacturer and operator in Wales. There is not. She seems to be forgetting all about 7 Steel in Cardiff. That explains why the Conservatives in government failed to have a strategy and vision for steel and to support the sector because they did not even know who was making steel and where. This Government understand all our steel assets, and we are creating a strategy to make sure that all of them add up to more than the sum of their parts and that we have a domestic industry that is sustainable, secure and growing into the future.

The hon. Lady seems to want to exit from British Steel without any more investment whatsoever. That would be the worst of all worlds. She wants to strand an entire community. We will stand by that community and make sure that the steel industry and sector thrives into the future.

On tariffs, let me just explain to the party that used to be about free and fair trade that free trade depends on fair trade. Fair trade depends on not having overcapacity. We cannot have overcapacity and fair trade. Therefore, we must correct the market and offer protection where overcapacity is in danger of decimating one of our key industries for defence, security and future prosperity.

The worst thing that could be done for the British steel industry is to do nothing. All we have heard from the Conservatives is, “Don’t do any of the things that Labour is doing,” with no alternatives offered whatsoever. They are the “do nothing” party, and that is the worst of all worlds.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Kyle and Harriett Baldwin

Thursday 12th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

Of course, there are lots of well-paid jobs in the steel sector. In fact, the taxpayer is now subsidising every job at British Steel to the tune of £110,000. Can the Secretary of State update the House on how his negotiations are going with Jingye, and on when he will finally publish his long-awaited steel strategy?

[Peter Kyle]

I am very grateful for the hon. Lady’s question. Of course, after 14 years of the Conservatives running the steel industry, we have landed in a place where this Government are having to sort it out. I can reassure her that the negotiations with Jingye are well under way. I will update the House shortly on progress and, of course, on the strategy that I have been working very hard on, with colleagues, on behalf of the steel industry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Kyle and Harriett Baldwin

Wednesday 17th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

My right hon. Friend is right to highlight this important issue. I am pleased to be able to tell him that, since his visit, the work we have been doing in Zambia specifically, which has reached more than 1 million people, has reduced the level of stunting to 35%, but clearly that still leaves a lot more to be done.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

We will meet the malnutrition targets only through a strong partnership with the aid community—the voluntary community. Will the Minister update us on what progress she has made on reforms within that community, in the light of the exposés of the past 18 months?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I think that the hon. Gentleman is referring to the safeguarding issues. He will be aware of the leadership that the UK has shown in this area and the rigorous way in which we have scrutinised all our suppliers. With regard to the most recent story in the media, we have confirmed that no DFID funding was involved.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Kyle and Harriett Baldwin

Tuesday 1st December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

My hon. Friend is right that many of the 900,000 workers in the social care sector will benefit from the new national living wage, including many working in residential care. That is why last week in the autumn statement we made an announcement that councils will have the power over the course of this Parliament to access money that they may need to increase the amount that they pay for social and residential care, with new revenue streams for social care worth up to £3.5 billion by 2020.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

As the Minister will be aware, the national living wage does not apply to people who are self-employed, whose wages have been stagnating and whose pension contributions have fallen every year for the past five years. Why were self-employed people not mentioned once in the productivity plan, and what does she intend to do to tackle low pay and conditions among the self-employed?

[Harriett Baldwin]

The hon. Gentleman speaks powerfully of the importance of the self-employed to our economy. We pay tribute to the excellent work that so many self-employed people, including many in my family, do to generate economic growth in this country. He is right that, as wages across the economy grow and as we put more spending power into budgets for social and residential care, we expect that to be passed on to those who are self-employed.