Steel leaders warn of imminent threat to industry

REIDsteel managing director Simon Boyd, along with two other business leaders from the UK steel industry, have called for a meeting with Secretary of State for Business and Trade Peter Kyle, the leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch, Reform leader Nigel Farage and Lib Dem leader Ed Davey early in the new year.

They wish to discuss:

• The government’s continued failure to take British Steel into full public ownership so a coherent plan can be put in place for the investment the company needs

• The continued threat posed by the damaging race to net zero

• The increasing threat from cheap Chinese steel entering the UK market along with fabricated steel which would have a devastating impact on the entire steel sector, manufacturing and the UK economy

The call comes in a letter sent to the politicians by Jonathan Clemens, chief executive of the British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA).