Tory steel plans 'will create national security risk' ministers told by own MP
A Conservative MP today issues a warning about government-backed plans to axe steel plants' blast furnaces with the loss of 5,000 jobs.
British Steel plans to close its furnaces at Scunthorpe, Lincs, and replace them with electric arc systems at its plant in the town and on Teesside. The scheme would get £300million of taxpayers’ cash and trigger an estimated 2,000 job cuts.
Its announcement came weeks after Tata confirmed it wanted to switch to electric furnaces at Britain’s biggest steelworks, Port Talbot - with the loss of 3,000 posts. That plan is backed by £750m of public money.
It would help cut the sector's carbon emissions and meet the Government's legally-binding plan to reduce net emissions to zero by 2050. But the UK would be unable to produce “virgin” steel without blast furnaces. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Steel’s vice-chairwoman Holly Mumby-Croft, MP for Scunthorpe, warned that scrapping traditional coal-fired systems would leave the UK relying on imports from other countries which “might not always be our friend”.
A growing number of Tory backbenchers fear the UK’s national security could be jeopardised if the country is forced to rely on overseas imports of steel. Writing exclusively for the Mirror, Ms Mumby-Croft says: “If the nation is left without a single blast furnace, for the first time in centuries we will be unable to make our own virgin or primary steel. There is a place for EAFs, but they melt scrap – they don’t make virgin steel from scratch.
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“The UK would be left entirely reliant on imports for our primary steel. Steel is in the bones of every aspect of modern life. Most importantly Governments need steel to fulfil their highest responsibility - defence. Producing steel from scratch is a sovereign capability that we need to protect ourselves. For national security reasons, we cannot rely upon imports from foreign countries that might not always be our friend.”
The Mirror has been campaigning to Save Our Steel since 2015.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Steel’s vice-chairwoman Holly Mumby-Croft, MP for Scunthorpe, writes exclusively for the Mirror
Last week I was privileged to sit in Parliament and witness a rare event: Tory and Labour MPs one after another rising to speak and finding that they agreed with one another.
The backdrop to this rare occasion can be found in my constituency, Scunthorpe. British Steel – the largest steelmaker in England – had announced plans to decommission their blast furnaces, replacing them with electric arc furnaces. Two thousand jobs could be lost. The minister was summoned to answer for it.
Generations have worked in our steelworks; my grandad was one of them. My school friends and neighbours are there now and people at home are worried. I’m fighting unapologetically for my community, but this decision will have much wider implications for the UK.
If the nation is left without a single blast furnace, for the first time in centuries we will be unable to make our own virgin or primary steel. There is a place for EAFs, but they melt scrap – they don’t make virgin steel from scratch. The UK would be left entirely reliant on imports for our primary steel.
Steel is in the bones of every aspect of modern life. Most importantly, governments need steel to fulfil their highest responsibility - defence. Producing steel from scratch is a sovereign capability that we need to protect ourselves. For national security reasons, we cannot rely upon imports from foreign countries that might not always be our friend.
It was these concerns for national security and defence that bound MPs in common cause. The Heart of Oak, the march of the Royal Navy, was evoked from the Liberal benches. The technology we need to make virgin steel without high emissions is coming.
Hydrogen and carbon capture are just over the horizon – the only ingredient we need to make them viable is time. British Steel is seeking public money for their plans. Any deal that is reached must protect jobs and, for security, our ability to make virgin steel.
Most Britons view steel as a strategically important industry - their instinct is right. We must keep the fires burning.
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