A steel solution

‘Buy British’ idea works for all

WITH CONCERNS growing about the future of Liberty Steel, which has two plants in South Yorkshire that support thousands of jobs both directly and in the local supply chain, the Government finds itself with both a challenge and opportunity that will become increasingly familiar in the coming years.

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion’s request for the Government to commit to buying British steel for future projects was met with a hopeful response by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who noted that a procurement taskforce has been established this month and is part of commitments to ensuring the nation has a strong steel industry.

But as a new report by think tank Onward has noted today, reaching the Government’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require “radical action” to decarbonise the most carbon-intensive industries, such as steel.

The idea of losing steel plants in this country to help make progress towards the carbon emissions goals may be attractive in some quarters, but it is a false economy given the alternative is transporting steel in from overseas from producers unlikely to be following environmentallyfriendly policies.

The industry is already well aware of the need to reduce its emissions levels – Liberty itself has already set out its own plans to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Maintaining British plants and buying from them while incentivising UK-based companies to power ahead with decarbonisation strategies would create a win-win situation which would protect jobs, assist the levelling-up agenda and help the environment.