Trade unions have warned that Jingye has canceled orders for iron ore, coking coal and other raw materials needed to make steel, raising concerns the Scunthorpe plant could effectively close within days without the fuel to run it. If the raw materials aren’t ordered this week, the blast furnaces risk being permanently shuttered, according to one person working in the industry.
Ministers are now examining putting in the order for the raw materials themselves to buy Scunthorpe time, the people [familiar with the matter] said, adding that the order could be made as soon as Wednesday. Nationalization looks like the only viable option if Britain wants to prevent itself from becoming the only G7 economy without a virgin steel industry, the industry figure said.
The Bloomberg report stresses that the nationalisation plans “haven’t been finalised and may not materialise”.
Reform UK has called for British Steel to be nationalised if necessary, and in the Commons yesterday at least one Conservative MP also backed this idea.
But Kemi Badenoch said today nationalisation “has got to be a last resort”.
Responding to the Bloomberg report, Plaid Cymru said it would be a “betrayal” of Wales for the government to nationalise the Scunthorpe steelworks when it did not do the same for Port Talbot. Plaid’s trade spokesperson Llinos Medi MP said:
When Plaid Cymru called for the nationalisation of Port Talbot to safeguard Welsh steel, Labour dismissed it without hesitation.
Now, as the UK Government considers nationalising British Steel in Scunthorpe, Labour’s quiet acceptance of a Tory plan that cost 2,500 jobs in Port Talbot is nothing short of a betrayal.
3.34pm.)
for the i, during his evidence to the liaison committee Keir Starmer admitted that the digital services tax and the Online Safety Act were being discussed with the US as part of the trade deal talks.
Starmer told the committee:
In relation to trade talks, obviously there are questions about the appropriate way to tax digital services, etc. There are questions about how technology impacts free speech.
I’ve been very clear in my view that we need to have arrangements for a digital tax of some sort, and equally we need to be pioneers of free speech which we have been for very many years in this country.
But at the same time, we rightly protect under the Online Safety Act – further provisions of which are coming into force pretty quickly – and when it comes to paedophiles and protecting children, I take a pretty strong line that we take the necessary measures in order to do so.
Ministers have played down the likelihood of concessions in these areas, saying the US tech companies will always have to pay a fair rate of tax and that basic protections under the Online Safety Act will not be removed. But they have not ruled any changes or reviews of these policies.
Calum Miller, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson, said:
Keir Starmer must commit to giving parliament a say over any future Trump trade deal, including any concessions over online safety and the tech tax.
It would be immoral for Trump’s tech bro backers to be given tax breaks while children’s safety online is thrown under the bus.
3.04pm.)
But he was responding to a question an assessment saying that the changes would push 250,000 people into poverty. That came from the DWP, and it did not take account of the likelihood that some of the people losing benefits will return to work – which might keep them out of poverty.
This was a point made repeatedly by Treasury ministers on the day of the spring statement, and the morning after.
Asked to comment on what Starmer said to the committee, the OBR said it had nothing to add beyond what it said in its own report.
In the report, the OBR admits that it has not estimated the impact of the welfare reforms on employment. But it says that’s not because it did not want to; it is because the government did not suppy the information needed for that assessment to be possible.
It said:
While our fiscal forecast takes account of the direct fiscal costs of some of the welfare policies in the government’s Pathways to Work green paper and their indirect effects on aggregate demand, we have not incorporated most of their supply-side impacts on the labour market. This was due to insufficient information from the government on the policies announced and analysis of their likely economic effects. We will incorporate our estimate of these impacts in our next forecast.
Starmer’s comment may have been influenced by the fact that he is frustrated with the OBR for another reason. It has been reported that Starmer thinks it is barmy that the government has to revise its spending plans every six months in response to a new forecast from the OBR. Updating the OBR forecasts once a year would make a lot more sense, he reportedly thinks.
Labour MP sponsoring the bill, has written to MPs saying the report stage debate will not take place until Friday 16 May.
In a letter to MPs, she says:
I greatly appreciate the effort colleagues have made to keep the previously announced date free in their diaries, but I have listened carefully to members on all sides of the issue who have told me that they would welcome more time to consider the amendments to the bill in committee, to see the new version of the bill as a result of these important changes, and other related matters …
I have always said it is more important to do this work properly than to do it quickly, which is why I ensured the committee had plenty of time to do its work and why I think it is now sensible to allow all MPs a few more weeks for their own consideration.
Only a small number of MPs vote on a debate when it is in committee. The report stage debate will be the first chance for all MPs to vote again on the bill since its second reading in November.
On that occasion the bill passed by 330 votes to 275 – a majority of 55. But there have been changes to the text of the bill, including the removal of a provision for assisted dying applications to need the approval of a judge, and it is not clear whether the amended bill will attract as much support as the original second reading version.
Bloomberg story by Ailbhe Rea and Alex Wickham, ministers are seriously considering nationalising the steelworks. They report:
Trade unions have warned that Jingye has canceled orders for iron ore, coking coal and other raw materials needed to make steel, raising concerns the Scunthorpe plant could effectively close within days without the fuel to run it. If the raw materials aren’t ordered this week, the blast furnaces risk being permanently shuttered, according to one person working in the industry.
Ministers are now examining putting in the order for the raw materials themselves to buy Scunthorpe time, the people [familiar with the matter] said, adding that the order could be made as soon as Wednesday. Nationalization looks like the only viable option if Britain wants to prevent itself from becoming the only G7 economy without a virgin steel industry, the industry figure said.
The Bloomberg report stresses that the nationalisation plans “haven’t been finalised and may not materialise”.
Reform UK has called for British Steel to be nationalised if necessary, and in the Commons yesterday at least one Conservative MP also backed this idea.
But Kemi Badenoch said today nationalisation “has got to be a last resort”.
Responding to the Bloomberg report, Plaid Cymru said it would be a “betrayal” of Wales for the government to nationalise the Scunthorpe steelworks when it did not do the same for Port Talbot. Plaid’s trade spokesperson Llinos Medi MP said:
When Plaid Cymru called for the nationalisation of Port Talbot to safeguard Welsh steel, Labour dismissed it without hesitation.
Now, as the UK Government considers nationalising British Steel in Scunthorpe, Labour’s quiet acceptance of a Tory plan that cost 2,500 jobs in Port Talbot is nothing short of a betrayal.
he killing of Sean Brown in Northern Ireland in 1997. State agents have been linked to the murder.
Starmer says the government will consider the court of appeal judgment on this, which said the refusal to hold an inquiry was unlawful. But he says in the first instance there should be a criminal investigation.
two Chinese soldiers have been caught fighting for Russia in Ukraine?
Starmer says he has only just heard this news. He says he would like to get a proper briefing on what happened before he comments. He says he would like to speak to President Zelenskyy against this.
he recent killing of 15 humanitarian workers in Gaza?
Starmer says there has to be an inquiry into that.
And he says aid needs to be getting into Gaza.
And the UK should put its “foot in the door” to push for a two-state solution.
Starmer says he does not want to cut the aid budget.
But he does not accept the government can do nothing until the aid budget goes up again. He goes on:
That’s why I’ve had active discussions with the World Bank, other institutions, other countries and the private sector about how we could leverage aid financing in a different way, using the private sector, how we can better co ordinate and cooperate with other countries.
Meg Hillier asked Starmer about Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, using a pocket money comparison when referring to disability benefits being cut.
Starmer replied:
Of course language matters, I think every member of Cabinet knows that. Occasionally people don’t get it quite right. They usually apologise and are quite right to.”
The two values that have driven me in everything I’ve done as a lawyer and as a politician are dignity and respect. Dignity is probably the most important word in my dictionary.
Source: theguardian.com
