The UK government has reaffirmed the critical role that the domestic steel industry plays in national defence, but noted that it does not have a specific target for increasing the use of UK-sourced steel.
This was confirmed in response to a question posed by James Cartlidge, Conservative MP for South Suffolk, who inquired about the Ministry of Defence’s strategy regarding the use of UK steel in defence programmes.
Responding to the question, Luke Pollard, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, mentioned that the UK steel industry is a vital asset for both national security and the economy. He explained that, while steel for defence programmes is sourced from both UK and international suppliers, some specialised steel required for defence projects may not be available domestically.
“The UK steel industry is an important strategic national asset, vital for our security and our economy. Steel used in our major Defence programmes is sourced by our prime contractors from a range of UK and international suppliers, as Defence programmes may often have requirements for specialist steel which cannot be sourced in the UK,” Pollard stated.
In addition to sourcing steel, Pollard highlighted efforts by the government to provide greater transparency in the future requirements for steel in defence contracts, allowing UK manufacturers to better plan and bid for opportunities.
He reiterated that as part of the ongoing Strategic Defence Review, the government remains committed to ensuring a resilient and robust defence industrial base, which includes maintaining strong supply chains for steel across the UK. He added:
“As part of the Strategic Defence Review, this Government is committed to developing a defence industrial base that is able to better support our own and allies’ security while also helping to drive economic growth. We will ensure a strong defence sector and resilient supply chains, including steel, across the whole of the UK.”
While there is no specific quota for the use of UK steel, the government’s approach is to support the domestic industry by offering opportunities for UK suppliers to compete for future contracts.
If they want an economically viable steel industry (or any other heavy industry) then the top priority for energy policy needs to be minimising cost to the end user.
The Uk lost its capability to produce the speciality steels required when the Ravenscraig Steelworks was shut down in the early 1990’s… Ravenscraig produced the steel for the Vanguards, and with its demise, British Steel seemed to concentrate on the lower quality steel products. With the rise of cheap lower quality Chinese steel, produced in vast quantities, it was only a matter of time before British steel production was all but wiped out….
indeed in reality no western nation can compete with lower quality chinese steel unless it’s massively tariffed, china will just do dumping until it’s broken the other nations steel industry.
As there is no industrial strategy or Defence Industrial Plan or strategy in the UK any statement from the Government is just meaningless chatter designed to make people think they actually care about industry – The reality is though plain to see
Pollard’s response is gibberish.
If he wants a UK strategic steel industry then the Government needs to give priority to UK produced steel. Given that steel produced overseas is subsidised by foreign Governments (deliberately to retain their own industry and to dominate the world market) it is impossible for a UK steel industry to compete on contracts. So make UK steel a requirement for UK projects and/or heavily subsidize UK steel to the same extent as others do.
I find the whole issue of the deindustrialisation of Britain in need of a full and transparent enquiry. None of the legacy political parties seem to have an explanation as to why this is desirable in any sense of the word apart from an attempt to return Britain to its pre-industrial natural state. This wont happen as we are fully capable of concreting over prime agricultural fields under net zero to install Solar Farms, pylons and windmills in addition to huge new cities to accomodate armies of immigrants. It seems to have escaped their notice that the Far East is… Read more »