Contributions
3,693 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDBritish SteelSteel is vital to the UK economy. I fully recognise the importance of British Steel to local communities, particularly in my hon. Friend’s Scunthorpe constituency, where the…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelI had a feeling that I had mentioned that a few times. We have a fund of about £1.5 million, partly aimed to ensure that we are adopting, testing and commercialising new…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelTata Steel employs more than 8,000 people and 12,500 further in the supply chain. All of that would have been at risk if we had not been able to provide the certainty it needed to…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelI cannot disagree with that. I have been reading up on Scunthorpe steel: it has been used to create structures ranging from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the London Eye, which…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelAs I have said repeatedly at the Dispatch Box, I fundamentally believe we need to have virgin steel capacity in the UK, but these are commercial decisions, and negotiations are…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelNegotiations are ongoing and nothing is concluded. The statement made by British Steel was a proposal, not a conclusion. The steel that comes out of electric arc furnaces can be…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelAbsolutely. That is why procurement went up by £97 million recently. I was looking at what the industry group UK Steel reflected on when it came to steel produced by electric arc…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelWe put in place a programme of work and a substantial sum of money—around £100 million—to ensure that the transition took place in a just fashion. Decisions will be taken by the…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelAbsolutely. I think all of this has made it clear to British Steel that there is a supply chain here in the UK, not only in the ability to make virgin steel but in the market…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelRecycled steel can be recycled infinite times, so it does a huge amount for the circular economy. Because of the way technology has moved on, steel can now be used in many more…08 Nov 2023HANSARDBritish SteelI have put it on record previously that we need to ensure that we have blast furnace capacity in the UK, and that, fundamentally, should be at the Scunthorpe site. There are…08 Nov 2023HANSARDShipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme UpdateI am making a statement to correct the record in relation to the supplementary estimate for UK Export Finance. The final paragraph of the statement I made on 13 September 2023…19 Sept 2023HANSARD UK Automotive IndustryThe Tata gigafactory announcement ensures that we are front-footed when it comes to gigafactories—it will be one of the largest factories in Europe. The right hon. Member and the…18 Sept 2023HANSARD Tata Steel: Port TalbotThe hon. Gentleman’s opening comment is factually incorrect. He says we are the only country in decline, which is not true. French production has declined by 21%, German…18 Sept 2023HANSARD Tata Steel: Port TalbotThe reality is that one of the furnaces in particular was coming to its end of life and the other was mature, so a decision had to be taken on whether the company would want to…18 Sept 2023HANSARD Tata Steel: Port TalbotAny change will be challenged by those potentially affected, which is why the transition board is being set up with a budget of £100 million to ensure that people who are impacted…18 Sept 2023HANSARD Tata Steel: Port TalbotThat is a sensible point. There are skills strategies in lots of different portfolios within industry, and in these particular circumstances, as I mentioned, a transition board…18 Sept 2023HANSARD Tata Steel: Port TalbotIt is unfortunate that the hon. Member decided to politicise such an important sector. It was not me but Gareth Stace for UK Steel, the trade association for the UK steel…18 Sept 2023HANSARD Tata Steel: Port TalbotMy right hon. Friend is always absolutely hot on these topics. There is enough steel, because we export so much of it and we can now use it on the site. Considering the age of the…18 Sept 2023HANSARDTata Steel: Port TalbotThe Government have agreed on a proposed joint investment package to provide £500 million to Tata Steel as part of their proposed £1.25 billion project to move to low carbon steel…18 Sept 2023