Liberty House, which has already agreed to rescue two of Tata’s sites in a deal brokered by the Scottish government, said it would consider some of the firm’s other manufacturing sites but was unlikely to take on the biggest plant at Port Talbot, in South Wales.
“While the downstream operations will be of interest, we’re clear that taking on the iron and steelmaking facilities present a huge challenge,”
They just don’t want the blast furnaces. Not needed: surplus to requirements. The bits that transform steel into usable stuff, sure, that’s fun and interesting, but making basic steel? Why?
From the quill of the esteem Professor of Political Economy at City University:-
“The Chinese could, and are, swamping our steel industry…”
At last; a thinker whose words truly do justice to his thoughts.
“The steel industry is dirty. It eats energy. It consumes the earth’s resources. And as yet we need it.” Says the Great Bard/blogger.
Leaving aside the obvious ‘Environmentalists for Steel’ gags, can we ask why? Why do we need a domestic steel making capability? “It’s in our national economic static interest” cry the Corbynistas. OK, what is the national e onomic strategy then? Or rather, what is your romantic, deluded, outdated, historically inaccurate and economically illiterate strategy?
What sort of philosophy shouts and screams when it is ignored and is silent when its policies bear fruit?
Not many Greens visible in the meedja…
For ‘static’ read ‘strategic’
““The steel industry is dirty. It eats energy. It consumes the earth’s resources. And as yet we need it.” Says the Great Bard/blogger.”
What about coal? Or uranium?
Just fuckwhittery from pretty much all concerned.
Ritchie’s joined up thinking again…
https://twitter.com/RichardJMurphy/status/715049347675725826
I am really struggling to understand why we ‘need’ a steel industry.
Sure, steel is pretty useful. But we can’t make it without trade anyway (unless we are digging up a load of iron ore somewhere in the UK that I am not aware of).
So it seems we are OK with importing iron / iron ore, but not with importing steel. Can anyone explain why???!
Because the romance of heavy industry. Because the attachment to industries that were important in Marx’s time. Because South Wales and Churchill shooting the miners. Just because.
“The Chinese could, and are, swamping our steel industry…”
That’s a good thing, though, right? Manufacturing industry is being subsidised? Isn’t that what lefties want? Or is this about the fact that it means Chinese people instead of British people are doing it? But isn’t making the rest of the world richer a good thing? Or did I miss the memo from the left apologising for calling anyone opposed to foreign aid racists? Or are Chinese people not brown enough to count as victims?
I suspect the amount of recycled steel in circulation has something to do with Port Talbot’s problem.
This is what happens when you don’t send all those tins to land fill.