The Liberal Party welcomes the impending intervention in British Steel to secure the Scunthorpe steel works.
The party believes that any government intervention or public ownership should only last as long as is necessary to find a private sector bidder willing to invest in the business and secure jobs.
Domestic steel production offers security of supply in an era of disrupted world trade and reduces the environmental impact of transporting steel from around the globe.
Furthermore, steel quality control is key to UK construction safety and the Liberal Party demands the 7 recommendations within the 2022 UK steel procurement taskforce report to be fully implemented.
The continuation of the UK steel industry also depends on controlling China’s dumping of steel and subsiding their own steel producers at the expense of other global producers.
The recent history of the UK steel industry also highlights the dangers of letting foreign owners, most recently China, control an industry in which they have only a short-term business interest.