{"id":71009,"date":"2016-05-26T15:46:31","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T15:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=55c92a2a9eb5ca59bcda58cb5063e8e0"},"modified":"2016-05-26T15:46:31","modified_gmt":"2016-05-26T15:46:31","slug":"statement-to-parliament-uk-steel-industry-update-may-2016-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=71009","title":{"rendered":"Statement to Parliament: UK steel industry: update, May 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a brief statement on Britain\u2019s steel industry.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Tata\u2019s board met in Mumbai and reviewed progress on the sale of their UK steelmaking assets.<\/p>\n

Ahead of that meeting I travelled to India for discussions with Tata\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

I arrived back in London just a few hours ago.<\/p>\n

I used the opportunity to stress the importance of Tata continuing to run a responsible and effective sales process – something I commend them for doing so far.<\/p>\n

I raised various challenges and issues that have been flagged to me by potential buyers.<\/p>\n

And I reiterated the government\u2019s willingness to support bidders who can deliver a sustainable and successful future for British steelmaking.<\/p>\n

Tata, understandably, wants the sale process to be as swift and straightforward as possible.<\/p>\n

However, they assured me that they remain absolutely committed to being a responsible seller.<\/p>\n

There are a number of credible bids on the table, all of which we discussed.<\/p>\n

Tata is now studying the proposals closely before making a decision on which to take through to the next stage of the sales process.<\/p>\n

We will be continuing our dialogue with the bidders and with Tata while this happens.<\/p>\n

This remains, quite rightly, an independent commercial process.<\/p>\n

It is not the government\u2019s job to pick a winner or back a specific bid.<\/p>\n

What we can do is listen to Tata, listen to bidders and work with everyone involved to remove potential barriers to a sale.<\/p>\n

For example, we are today launching a consultation on options to delivery clarity and security for British Steel Pension Scheme members.<\/p>\n

This follows representations from both the trustees of the scheme itself and from Tata.<\/p>\n

And let me just thank my RHF<\/abbr> the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and everyone in his team, for all their hard work in making this consultation happen.<\/p>\n

The House will appreciate that commercial confidentiality stops me offering a running commentary on the sale process.<\/p>\n

Indeed all the bidders have themselves signed non-disclosure agreements.<\/p>\n

I will, however, continue to update the House on progress whenever it is appropriate to do so.<\/p>\n

And I will continue to work around the clock to support British steelmaking and British steelworkers.<\/p>\n

That support has already seen tens of millions of pounds of compensation paid to energy intensive industries, and will see them exempted from renewable policy costs.<\/p>\n

It has seen us become the first government to implement new guidelines making it easier for the public sector to buy British steel.<\/p>\n

And it has seen us consistently standing up for British steel in Europe, including calling for tariffs on a range of Chinese imports where there is evidence of unfair trade.<\/p>\n

Mr Speaker, as yesterday\u2019s demonstration by steelworkers reminded us, this is ultimately all about people.<\/p>\n

About the hardworking men and women who make British steel the best in the world.<\/p>\n

We owe it to them \u2013 and their families and communities \u2013 to do everything we can to secure the future of their industry.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why my colleague, the Business Minister, and I have been fighting for British steel since long before the current crisis hit the headlines.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why we will continue to fight for British steel for as long as it takes.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re very pleased to have been supported in that fight by the First Minister of Wales.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also receiving constructive support from the trade unions, particularly Community.<\/p>\n

By putting aside political point-scoring and focussing on what really matters we are, together, forging a secure and sustainable future for British steelmaking.<\/p>\n

I commend this statement to the House.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Statement on the steel industry by Secretary of State for Business Sajid Javid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71009\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}