Scunthorpe Steelworks

Richard Tice Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

Like the Minister, my thoughts are with the British steelworkers and their families following the closure of the Scunthorpe site.

[Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)]

It is not closed yet.

[Clive Jones]

It is going to.

From electric vehicles to wind turbines, high-quality green steel is an important component of our transition to a low-carbon economy. The Government need to move rapidly from the Conservative’s legacy of a patchwork of last-minute rescues to a genuinely long-term approach that is effective for British industry and does not harm British workers. What are the Government doing to ensure that communities in Teesside and Scunthorpe are supported against job losses? When will the Government realise that sitting on our hands and hoping that Trump will not hit us with even more tariffs is not a good negotiating strategy? Will the Minister take a stronger approach and bring forward retaliatory measures against Donald Trump’s political allies such as his co-President Elon Musk and his company Tesla?

--- Later in debate ---

[Sarah Jones]

I know that my hon. Friend is working hard on behalf of his constituents; I appreciated being able to talk to him in the run-up to this. I can reassure him that this Government want to deliver a vibrant steel industry in the UK. We are very well aware of the importance of British Steel and of the Scunthorpe site and associated sites. We are doing all we can to make sure that we keep that operation going.

[Richard Tice]

We all know that steel, and particularly the ability to make primary steel, is a critical national industry. The Chinese might be giving up on British steel, but the British people do not want to give up on British steel, nor should we allow the final two blast furnaces to close. May I urge the Minister to take this not as a negative, but as an opportunity to be positive? We should take British Steel into public ownership and create a long-term, 20 to 30-year positive plan to invest in steelmaking for British industry and for our defence industry.

[Sarah Jones]

Through our plan for steel and the £2.5 billion that we are investing in the steel industry, we are aiming to do exactly that, to keep the industry going. I invite the hon. Gentleman to go and see the other sites around the country where we have electric arc furnaces in operation, because they are not that different from blast furnaces: they are still massive buildings melting and making the steel, but in a much more efficient way. The problem we have with Scunthorpe is that the blast furnaces are very old and will need huge amounts of money spent on them, and of course British Steel is losing £700,000 a day on Scunthorpe. This is not about ideology or particular political beliefs; this is about economics and about making sure that we protect our country, that we provide the defences we need, and that we are as secure as we can be in a changing world. On that, I agree with the hon. Gentleman.