‘For years some countries have bent trade rules that are meant to give the global steel industry a level playing field, to destroy the competition’, the Prime Minister writes
The story of steel in this country goes back generations.
But last Easter, the future of the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe was on the line. The steel furnaces were hours away from going cold – never to be reignited.
And its Chinese owners had stopped negotiating in good faith. They were willing to drive the company, and the community that relied on it, into the ground.
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I couldn’t let that happen on my watch. So I recalled Parliament for an unprecedented Saturday sitting, passed emergency laws, took back control of the steelworks, kept the fires burning and saved thousands of jobs. I headed straight up to Scunthorpe and saw the relief from workers who knew they had a job on Monday. This left me in no doubt steelmaking has a future in this country.
These workers have the technology. They have the skills. They just needed a Government on their side. But it’s also something I understood from my dad, a toolmaker. That when a factory or a pit closes, it’s not just jobs that are lost. It’s the community. The way of life. The ‘chest-out pride’ that people feel when they know they are putting their town on the map.
That’s why one of my first acts in Government was to improve the Port Talbot deal that the Tories had worked up. Honouring the spirit of the workers who led the Save Our Steel campaign when no one else would. Our grown-up approach, working in partnership with unions, meant we were able to agree a better redundancy and training package, a guarantee that 5,000 jobs will be protected, and a secure future for Welsh steelmaking.
Time and again, people want to write off Britain’s workers. But if you could bottle the pride they feel for their town and their industry, put it alongside a Government that backs them, then together we can fire up Britain’s economy. That’s why today we take the next step in the resurgence of British steelmaking. My argument is simple: we should use more of our own steel.
So we’ll introduce tougher rules so that British steel provides the backbone for British infrastructure, energy and defence projects. We’ll back British steelmaking across the country with £2.5bn worth of investment, in addition to the more than £500m we are already investing into Port Talbot.
And we’ll also introduce new tariffs to protect British steel from cheap and illegal foreign dumping. Make no mistake – this is a huge departure from the status quo. For years some countries have bent trade rules that are meant to give the global steel industry a level playing field. Their purpose is clear: destroy the competition by fair means or foul.
But it’s not just about the economy. As everyone knows, having a domestic steel industry is vital for national security. Yet the Tories did precious little to support it. They complained. They pleaded for free and fair trade. They wrung their hands. They got nowhere.
Today’s action does the opposite. It is yet another demonstration of who and what this Government is for. Whether it is the cost of living, public services, or our national security – this Government is always on the side of working people. Taking control of our economic destiny. And making sure the fires in British steelmaking stay lit for another generation.