UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Sarah Jones, Industry Minister, said the British government is open to a new Chinese partner for British Steel, despite the Business Secretary’s opposition.
As reported by Sky News, the Industry Minister has stated the government is “not excluding” a Chinese partner for British Steel, a stance that contrasts with Jonathan Reynolds’ position.
What did Sarah Jones say about investment tests for Chinese companies?
Speaking on Sky News Breakfast, the Industry Minister explained that “stringent tests” must be met for all investments, including “to a Chinese company as they would to any other company.”
She indicated that all options remain on the table when deciding the future of British Steel and its Scunthorpe plant.
Ms Jones said,
“Well, we are not at the moment. I am not going to say yes or no to anything that isn’t at the moment on the table or being looked at.”
The Industry Minister added,
“Whatever the future for Scunthorpe, we want to make sure we can keep primary steel-making, we can keep steel making in our country and we can grow that industry, not see the continued decline that we have had over recent years.”
In response to a question about the possibility of additional taxpayer funding outside current departmental budgets, she said,
“We have been really clear on steel that securing the future of the site in Scunthorpe is not just important for the 2,700 people who work there, but also because we know that demand for steel in the UK is growing. We know there’s a market there.”
Ms Jones stated,
“We need more steel for the 1.5 million homes that we want to build, for the clean energy, for the railway, for Heathrow, I could go on,” adding, “So we know that there is an industry there that we need to support, but that can be viable into the future.”
She continued,
“What we set out in the manifesto was a £2.5 billion investment in steel in the UK through our plan for steel, so we have a fund that we want to use to make sure the steel industry can thrive well into the future, and that is all within the existing fiscal envelope and Government departmental rules.”
Ms Jones highlighted that the government had provided Jingye with financial support in exchange for investment, believing this approach could be applied to another private-sector firm.
However, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, said he would not “personally bring a Chinese company into our steel sector,” describing steel as a “sensitive area” in Britain.
Jingye deal and British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant crisis
Jingye is a Chinese steel company. It bought British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant in 2020 to save it from insolvency, during Boris Johnson’s tenure.
Recently, the Chinese company halted orders for raw materials needed to maintain operations at the UK’s last steel-producing site.
After taking control of the Scunthorpe plant on Saturday, ministers are racing to secure the coking coal and iron ore required to keep the plant operational.
When the furnaces cool too far, molten iron solidifies and clogs the system, making it costly and challenging to restart them.
What did Tobias Ellwood say about China’s role in UK infrastructure?
Tobias Ellwood, former Conservative Defence Minister, said the ongoing conflict highlighted the need to remove China “from any dealings with the UK’s national infrastructure.”
He stated,
“We are dealing with a superpower on a mission, a country that does not play by the rules that has long sought dominance in the critical supply chain.”
What did the YouGov survey reveal about public opinion on nationalising British Steel?
A recent YouGov survey showed that most adults are in favour of the government’s move to nationalise British Steel. About 28% strongly supported the decision, and another 33% somewhat backed it. However, only 6% were somewhat against it, and 2% strongly opposed it. A significant portion, 31% of respondents, said they didn’t know what to think.
How did China respond to the UK’s British Steel crisis?
Amid rising tension over British Steel, pressure grows to block Chinese companies from UK infrastructure. In response, China warned the UK not to turn the matter into a political conflict.
Beijing stated Britain must
“treat Chinese businesses that have invested and operate in the UK fairly and justly, [and] protect their legitimate and lawful rights and interests.”
Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s foreign minister, said the UK should
“avoid politicising trade co-operation or linking it to security issues, so as not to impact the confidence of Chinese enterprises in going to the UK.”
What did Tom Tugendhat say about UK-China investment ties?
Tom Tugendhat, the ex-Tory security minister said,
“China has set out what it is doing and it claims to be an emerging market in WTO terms which it clearly is no longer and so we find ourselves in a slightly odd position where the rules of international trade apply less stringently to China and that creates a very un-level playing field.”
He said,
“The fact that we are trying to run a capitalist economy without any capital, we have eroded our own savings industry over the last 30 to 40 years and we have made it much, much harder to raise money domestically, it is a huge amount of what we are seeing here,”
adding,
“The short term fix has been to turn to China and, by the way, to other countries as well. But the reality is we have to be much more focused on what we can generate at home.”
Mr Tugendhat continued,
“The reality is China has set out what they are trying to do and they have set out very clearly in documents… it has explained very clearly what the government is aiming to do, with a country of 1.4 billion people it has to explain it publicly, and what we have to do is make our own decisions based on what they have told us.”