Chris McDonald
MP for Stockton North · Labour · United Kingdom
“This Bill will assist in that by ensuring that steel production is secured, helping to restore domestic production to sustainable levels and supporting the Government’s economic growth plans where the public interest test is met. The Lords amendments before us strengthen the Bill in several ways.”
“This Government are acting decisively and with purpose in the national interest, but the shadow Secretary of State is blinded by his ideological position on nationalisation. We believe that a steel industry, where necessary run by the Government and owned by the people, at least gives the opportunity to attract private sector investment.”
“I am acutely aware of the position in which the previous Government left us, with uncompetitive energy prices for industry. If he had been attentive in some of the debates we have been involved in, he would be aware of some of the measures that I have taken to address that.”
“Lords amendments 4 and 5 upgrade the parliamentary procedure relating to continuity obligations and enforcement, ensuring that Parliament has increased scrutiny of these matters.”
“I have listened carefully to the shadow Secretary of State’s remarks and those from the shadow Minister, and I will address them in a moment. I am grateful for the support of the Vice-Chamberlain of His Majesty’s Household, my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Sir Nicholas Dakin), and of the Minister without Portfolio, my right hon.”
“It is a pleasure to be back in the House today to see through the final stages of this Bill. The Government support all the Lords amendments before us. I wish to pay tribute to my colleague Minister Leong for so expertly guiding the Bill through its passage in the other place.”
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“I thank my hon. Friend and all the other MPs from the Stoke and Staffordshire area for their work in championing the ceramics industry. First, let me say how sad I was to hear the news about Denby, as that company proceeds into administration. The Government are providing support to the workforce. On the point he raised, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s support we are providing £120 million to enable ceramics companies to invest in lower carbon production—essentially, electrical furnaces—so that they can decarbonise and reduce their operating costs. I will be working closely with ceramics MPs on the implementation.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his letter on the Lea Valley growers. I have had discussions as a result of his prompting with Ministers in other Departments, not only about the Lea Valley growers, but about the horticulture sector more generally. I will update him on that in response to his letter. I thank him for saying that my answers so far have been acceptable, and hopefully that one is too.”
“As I mentioned in answer to an earlier question, we are concerned about the role of third-party intermediaries and the proper functioning of the market, and, subject to finding parliamentary time, we intend to bring forward the opportunity for Ofgem to act as a regulator in that regard. The hon. Gentleman’s question clearly identifies why it is so important that we return to energy stability in the UK through our own home-grown clean energy.”
“We have just heard from the Secretary of State about our active industrial strategy. This question is timely, because we are one year on from setting out our industrial strategy. We have announced our British industrial competitiveness scheme, expanding its scope to support 10,000 businesses with their energy costs, a £500 million sovereign AI fund, and the creation of 19 new technical excellence colleges, giving opportunities for young people across the country.”
“My hon. Friend knows that when he talks about reindustrialisation and improving the manufacturing base of this economy he finds a very sympathetic ear in me. Certainly, we have all seen over the course of the past few years, through multiple crises, how the resilience of global supply chains has been reduced. Increasing the share of our economy that is dedicated to manufacturing will serve the ecological aims that he has mentioned, improve our national resilience and provide good, well-paid and high-productivity manufacturing jobs in our industrial heartlands across the whole of the country.”
“At the time that the industrial strategy was established, the Government carefully selected those sectors that had the greatest growth potential for the economy, but we were also extremely clear in communicating that that does not mean that sectors that were not identified as having high growth potential were not important—quite the contrary. Our food manufacturing sector is incredibly important, and the Government are acutely aware of the issues around food prices. I believe that the Chancellor of the Exchequer may well have more to say on that subject in a statement later today.”
“My hon. Friend is right that automotive manufacturing is a key part of our advanced manufacturing sector, and she has done a huge amount here in the House to champion the sector in her area nationally. One area we are focusing on is supporting the sector with the development of new technology, such as autonomous vehicles; last week, the Secretary of State signed a memorandum of understanding with Wayve. We are determined that the UK will become Europe’s first market for digital driving services, driving the market and driving our automotive industry.”
“I commend the hon. Lady for championing the chemicals sector in the House. I am extremely concerned about the sector, including chlorine, because it is vital to the UK economy, as she says. This Government are taking action through our industrial strategy to focus on heavy industry and energy-intensive industries. I might have an opportunity to speak with her later today, if that would be of interest.”
“The hon. Gentleman is right to point out the importance of construction skills. In fact, on a recent visit to a construction skills academy in east London, I had the opportunity to do a bit of tiling myself—that has come in quite handy at home, actually—and to talk to some of the young people, who realise that they are developing skills for life. The Government are incredibly committed to that. The hon. Gentleman may have missed it, but he will be pleased to know that the Government have announced five new technical excellence colleges to help young people to get those skills for life in the construction sector. [ Official Report , 1 June 2026; Vol. 786, c. 12WC.] (Correction)”
“Yes, indeed. I engage with the construction industry extremely regularly as the co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council, and skills, along with health and safety, are absolutely at the top of our agenda. The views of the construction industry on the Construction Industry Training Board are discussed there and decided there by the industry.”
“Friend the Secretary of State has made a strong commitment to reduce regulation and bureaucracy, so we can ensure that these contracts are awarded more efficiently and more easily to small businesses in the UK.”
“The hon. Member raises an extremely important point: Government procurement can, of course, be an important lever for growing our economy. Whereas previous Governments used the fig leaf of being in the EU as an excuse to buy things from overseas simply because they were a penny cheaper, this Government are committed to ensuring that as much as possible of UK taxpayers’ money is spent in the UK. The hon. Member asks what discussions I am having with Cabinet Office colleagues. I am having discussions with colleagues in the Cabinet Office, the Home Department, the Ministry of Defence and across Government, because there is a commitment among Ministers to ensure that Government procurement is targeted at British companies. My right hon.”
“Since publishing our steel strategy on 19 March, we have published provisional product scope and quota volumes for the new steel trade measures; further reduced electricity prices for steel companies from 1 April through our network charging compensation scheme uplift; confirmed that some steel companies will be part of the British industrial competitiveness scheme; announced new transparency requirements on the origin of steel in public procurement; set up a cross-Government working group on scrap; and introduced—today—the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill.”
“I do indeed agree. The £100 million investment in 7 Steel UK is welcome news, but I met the owners of the business, and they told me that they were able to release that investment only because of the confidence they had in the Government’s approach following the publication of our steel strategy. That is a direct correlation between Government action and £100 million-worth of investment in Cardiff. I know that my hon. Friend has been a strong advocate of the steel industry. There is an opportunity later today for Members of the House to decide whether they are on the side of the steel industry or not. I encourage the Opposition to put their ideology aside just for a moment and get behind the steel industry this afternoon— I know that is difficult when a Bill has the word “nationalisation” in its title.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for raising issues with businesses in Stourbridge when we met earlier this week; I am happy to continue to work with her. The measures we have introduced, which are primarily to protect the UK steel industry, are targeted at steels that are made or can be made in the UK. There are sometimes difficulties where a product code covers multiple steel grades, but that is what the quota system is intended to deal with, and of course there will be a review in 12 months’ time.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his comments. I believe we have had representation from Stannah, the stairlift company based in his constituency. It is important to say that the Government take action like this reluctantly, but ultimately there are distortions in the market around steel. The EU taking action itself would lead to the UK becoming a dumping ground for cheap steel flooding in from overseas. We have taken a very carefully balanced approach and consulted carefully with the industry. I continue to receive representations, and, as I said, there is an opportunity for a review of the measures in 12 months’ time.”
“I am not familiar with the situation with Dynamic Metals. I was just having a discussion on the Front Bench with the Minister for Trade, my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda and Ogmore (Chris Bryant), and if the hon. Lady writes to him, he will look carefully at the matter she has raised.”
“I reiterate the point that the action that the Government have taken has been to correct an issue in the market. We have taken wide representation. In fact, we amended the list as a result of some of that representation. The shadow Minister’s point about inflation goes exactly back to the point that I made earlier. This country cannot be in a position where we say that we are prepared to buy the cheapest thing, wherever it is made in the world, to the sacrifice of our own industry. We cannot allow foreign Governments’ industrial policies to drive our own industrial policy. That is why we have taken this action—similar action to that taken by the EU. It comes down to a question of whose side are you on. Are you on the side of British industry, like the Government, or are you on the side of overseas industry?”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the potential in Cornwall, which is a unique and distinctive part of the country. It powered our industrial past and it will power our industrial future. I am happy to meet her and colleagues to talk more about the opportunities in Cornwall.”
“My hon. Friend raises an important point about support for small businesses. It is important that their cash flow is protected and that they are paid on time—hopefully my hon. Friend will have noticed the announcement of the Commercial Payments Bill in the King’s Speech, which will give us the strongest legal framework in the G7.”
“My hon. Friend is right: £200 million is available for such projects. The initial £14.5 million of funding that was announced will help businesses to test the feasibility of their project ideas in order to secure long-term funding from the National Wealth Fund.”
“My hon. Friend knows that I am a strong advocate of steel in construction, but she is right: there has been a missed opportunity on timber, particularly as many of our hardwood forests are coming to maturity, which means we will have a real surplus of hardwood in the UK. Something we will suffer from, though, is downstream processing of timber, so we need to look at how we can encourage more investment in the sawmills and downstream processing industry.”
“Two years ago, I was running a business in the steel industry. Twenty years ago, I was working at the Scunthorpe steelworks. More than 30 years ago—the House will not believe it—I left school and got a job in the steel industry. There were a lot of changes over that time. Sometimes I stayed in the same job, but the company and the badge on my hard hat changed. When it changed from British Steel to Corus, that was a big blow to how people felt about it, but I will tell the House one thing that I recognised: ownership matters, and it makes a difference. Strategy matters, and it matters where the head office of a business is. People care about the area where they work, and those things are important. The workers care, communities care and we care, but the Conservatives do not care—that is quite clear to me.”
“Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), when he opened the debate, and I was quite disappointed. He and I met earlier this week, and my colleagues sitting behind me might be surprised to learn that he was thoughtful and probing in the questions that he asked me. He made some really interesting points, and we had a good discussion. I thought about his points afterwards, and I found it really interesting that he had thought about the things that we will have to bear in mind when we pass this legislation. But what has he done? He has fallen into the Conservatives’ usual trap of presenting this as an ideological debate, instead of a debate about the function of an industry that is vital to this country. That is how they have prosecuted this debate. I learned something when I was working in the industry.”
“The reason that this Bill is so important is exactly the same as the reason it was important in 1966: there has been a great technological shift in the industry. Back then, it was continuous casting; now, it is electric arc furnaces. The industry has been de-capitalised by years of under-investment, and it needs to be re-capitalised. Productivity fell off a cliff under the previous Government. It fell repeatedly following the closure of the Redcar blast furnace, and productivity must be improved. These are not the words of someone who is wedded to a socialist principle of nationalisation. They are the words of someone who has spent his life in the steel industry, who ran a business in the steel industry, and who is dedicated to improving productivity in our industry. I heard the words of the shadow Minister, the hon.”
“The Minister of Supply said: “Without steel the life of Britain would collapse.” —[ Official Report , 15 November 1948; Vol. 458, c. 53.] That is absolutely true, as we have heard from Members of the House today. As the Minister for Industry, part of my mission is to increase the productive capacity of our industry. What we have seen in the steel industry, particularly during 14 years of the Tories, is productive decline. They presided over the loss of great steel plants and a reduction in the productive capacity of those steel plants. The thing is, the decline in market share—from 80% to 30%—was not inevitable. It was a choice born out of inaction and out of a lack of industrial policy.”
“As I was preparing for today’s debate, it struck me that 60 years ago this summer, this House was debating steel nationalisation and the England team went on to win the world cup. We are back here discussing steel nationalisation again, so I have high hopes for the summer. Sometimes it is informative to learn from the past. Going back to the steel nationalisation of 1966, the Minister of Power opened the debate and said that “there is no manufacturing industry of such basic importance to the British economy.” —[ Official Report , 25 July 1966; Vol. 732, c. 1224.] Of course, he was right then, and it is true now. However, the steel industry is so good that we have not nationalised it twice; we have nationalised it thrice, because the steel industry was also partly nationalised in 1948.”
“Yes, the hon. Member is right. There is a gulf there: the Conservatives were in favour of some of the highest industrial energy prices in the world. We have delivered an increase in the supercharger benefit from 60% to 90% and introduced the British industrial competitiveness scheme. Through our investments in chemicals, ceramics and, of course, steel, we are supporting British industry with its operating costs on energy and its capital costs to improve its productivity as well. In steel communities, they are proud people. They are people who can stand on their own two feet, and they want to; they do not want subsidies. They have pride and they have dignity in their work, and when I went to the Corby steelworks recently, I saw the sacrifice of individuals and communities with their hard and dangerous labour.”
“He raised the importance of DRI blast furnaces as well as electric arc furnaces, and he and I will certainly have the opportunity to discuss that much further. I think it is quite clear that the British Government are not and should not be neutral when it comes to British business, and we are on the side of business. We are unashamedly on the side of British business, and we are unashamedly on the side of the steel industry and steel communities. That is the difference between us and the Opposition, and I commend this Bill to the House. Question put , That the amendment be made.”
“Friends the Members for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald), for Hartlepool (Mr Brash) and for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer), could not have been clearer about how the Tories abandoned the steel communities in Teesside and the difference that this Labour Government are making. A number of Opposition Members mentioned tariffs. There are no tariffs in this Bill. However, as we heard from the Trade Minister at the Dispatch Box this morning and from the Secretary of State this afternoon, there is an open door for companies to come in and discuss those issues. Finally, the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Richard Tice) and I have had many exchanges about steel. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we do not agree, but we always have a good discussion.”
“Just in the last couple of weeks, 7 Steel has announced a £100 million private sector investment in the steel industry in the UK, so there is no chilling effect from this. In fact, this will be a spur to, or a boost for, private sector investment. Let me mention some of the speeches. The Chair of the Business and Trade Committee mentioned a number of things, but I think he was the only person to raise scrap. We have launched a scrap working group, which will be dealing with that issue. My hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) rightly raised the importance of the Llanwern steel plant, and she mentioned import penetration in relation to rebar. My near constituency neighbours, my hon.”
“At the time the Banking Act was being passed, a fellow sitting on the Opposition Front Bench called George Osborne—I understand he is popular in Tory circles—said, “I will do everything I can to help this Bill on to the statute book.” I think what we are hearing is that that is good enough for the bankers, but it is not good enough for the steelworkers. To move on, I am as concerned as the shadow Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), and the spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney), to get in private sector investment. We have carried out a very careful balance with this Bill to ensure that the steel industry is fully informed, understands our intentions and is supportive—and it is supportive.”
“I also thank the Chief Whip, who of course did so much work in advance of this Bill coming forward. Let me give at least one or two minutes to the amendment. Fundamentally, there is a contradiction in the Opposition’s position in that, if we do not pass this Bill, British Steel is trapped in the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act. The Conservatives supported that legislation, so they do not want to allow British Steel to break out of that. However, I would point out to Conservative Members—and certainly those who feel that the Bill gives too many powers to the Secretary of State—that this Bill has been modelled on the Banking Act.”
“While the Government are minded to nationalise British Steel, we do not have any other nationalisations in mind. However, we do recognise the importance of the Dalzell plate mill, and I am concerned to ensure that it gets back up and running, and delivers its steel ship plate orders. I thank my hon. Friend for the work that she has been doing in championing that. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Dr Tidball)—she is sitting behind me—who has supported me throughout the preparation of this Bill, but cannot speak because of her position in the House. Likewise, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Sir Nicholas Dakin), who is also supporting the passage of this Bill, but again cannot speak because of his position.”
“Getting more low-cost renewables such as onshore wind on to the system reduces our exposure to volatile global fossil fuel markets, protecting British families from the effects of future price shocks. This Government will continue to support onshore wind. We have removed the damaging de facto ban in England that has been in place for almost a decade and reintroduced the technology into the nationally significant infrastructure projects regime.”
“Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith), rightly said that we need more investment in small, modular reactors. That is true, but we also need to invest in our cheapest form of energy, which is solar; our second cheapest, which is onshore wind; our third cheapest, which is offshore wind; and full scale nuclear and small modular reactors. We need to do all those things for our energy security, to bring bills down and, of course, to tackle climate change. Recent events in the middle east have reinforced the importance of producing home-grown clean energy. Delivering our clean power mission will help to boost Britain’s energy independence, protect bill payers, support high-skilled jobs and tackle the climate crisis. Onshore wind is a critical component to delivering those goals.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for securing this debate, which I know is very important for his constituency, just as it is for the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn)—I know that he has done a huge amount of work in engaging Ministers on this topic and I thank him for that. He is probably the person in the room who has the greatest intimate knowledge of the bottom of a peat bog. I also wish everybody a very happy World Curlew Day. The Government’s ambition of clean power by 2030 is critical for moving all of us off our costly reliance on fossil fuels and for protecting consumer bills. The shadow Minister, the hon.”
“We committed in EN-3 to publish additional guidance regarding wind farm construction on peatland in England, something the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) asked about in particular. I can confirm that we are in ongoing discussions with the Scottish Government about developing a carbon calculator tool for England similar to the one currently used in Scotland, which could inform policy decisions around developments on peatlands. I hope that my words have clarified the Government’s position and addressed some of the concerns. The hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley might be disappointed that I have not directly referenced the project in his constituency, but hopefully he realises that, given the role of the Secretary of State, I have constrained my comments to speak more generally.”
“That affords additional protection in the planning process. The Government have published specific guidance for onshore wind and peat in the national policy statements, which are used to assess the impacts of nationally significant infrastructure projects. We heard earlier about EN-3, the national policy statement for renewable energy, which makes clear that, although onshore wind is permitted on peatland, applicants should seek and rule out other locations first. EN-3 guides developers to avoid peatland where possible, particularly areas of deep peat. Where that is not possible, developers are required to mitigate or compensate for peatland impacts. We are now going further to give decision makers and developers more tools to assess and manage the impacts of onshore wind on peatland.”
“We therefore recognise that building infrastructure such as onshore wind on peatland can have detrimental impacts, and we appreciate that communities have valid concerns about that. An e-petition, to which the Government responded last year, called for a ban on building onshore wind farms on peatland in England, and we have heard those calls repeated in this debate. That is why we have protections in the planning system requiring careful consideration from developers and decision makers when onshore wind farm developments are proposed on peatlands. My hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) also asked a question about the protection of peatlands. Approximately half of England’s deep peat and a quarter of all England’s peat soils are afforded special protection through being classed as irreplaceable habitats, as we heard earlier.”
“We recognise, of course, that poorly sited, poorly designed onshore wind farms have impacts on local communities in relation to wildlife, local heritage and residents’ sense of place. That is why our planning system has strong checks and balances to manage those impacts, including through requirements for extensive up-front surveys and statutory assessments on the impacts of the environment and important habitats. Those checks and balances extend, of course, to peatlands. We know that peatlands are vital for biodiversity, for carbon and for water. Peatlands are sensitive habitats and are important for many species of flora and fauna. Because peat soils are rich in carbon, disturbances will have climate impacts.”
“I hope the hon. Member will recognise that as I continue my remarks I will address many of the points that he made in his speech, including the point about peatland. From the contributions we have heard today, I would say there is strong agreement in this room on the need both to tackle climate change and to care for our special environments in the UK, including peatland. He will hear more on that from me shortly. Removing the ban on onshore wind was a very early and important decision that the Government made. The onshore wind projects deliver a very low-cost form of energy and improve our energy security. The momentum is on our side. Last year, onshore wind power produced 12% of our total electricity.”
“We do not believe that clean energy must come at the expense of our environment. That is why we are investing significantly in protecting and restoring nature, including peatlands, while providing the protections and flexibility we need through the planning system to manage impacts and enable deployment. Once again, I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley for securing this debate; I thank everyone who participated—and of course I thank you, Sir Alec, in the Chair.”
“I am grateful for that intervention, because the hon. Member is right; he mentioned that and I meant to respond to it, but I had forgotten. It is important to note that there is no role for the Government in extending the consultation—that is a matter for the developer, but I am sure that any responsible developer would listen very carefully to the voice of the local community and Members of Parliament, so it is important that he has put that on the record. Our clean power 2030 mission is our route to lower bills, greater energy security and resilience, economic growth and the revival of regions that have been left behind, including our industrial heartlands. However, we also know that it cannot and must not come at an unacceptable cost to our natural world and our communities, so we are taking a balanced approach.”
“Fusion energy really is the energy of the future. Our fusion strategy, with a fusion prospectus to follow, has a strong focus on inward investment, very much ensuring that Britain is the world-leading place to invest in fusion energy.”
“I do indeed welcome the £200 million design and build contract for ILIOS with, as my hon. Friend mentioned, Kier and firms like Turner & Townsend who can be relied on to deliver. We have allocated £1.3 billion over the spending review period for fusion. Britain has been firmly in the lead for research in this area; we need to be in the lead in its application, too. I know that my hon. Friend’s constituents will benefit, but right now it would be difficult for constituents in Scotland to benefit, because the SNP cannot decide whether fusion energy is nuclear energy. I can tell SNP Members that it is, and they should be supporting nuclear energy across the whole country.”
“I share the hon. Member’s affection for Dounreay—I have family based in Reay and Thurso and have enjoyed many a holiday on the north coast of Scotland. As he said, it has a talented and experienced nuclear workforce, and I very much hope that they will play a part in Britain’s nuclear future.”
“After a lot of hullabaloo about the oil and gas industry, we now get to turn to the areas where we are doubling down—namely, on our vast natural resource in clean energy industries and offshore wind, where we managed to attract £90 billion-worth of private sector investment in 2024, in collaboration with the sector councils. Whereas the Conservative Government were happy for those associated jobs to be in Denmark and the Netherlands, we are reindustrialising Blyth, the Tyne and the Tees.”
“My hon. Friend is right that the allocation round was incredibly successful. Of course, the Conservatives wanted to cancel it, given their opposition to clean industry jobs across the UK. In the north-east, where my hon. Friend is from, we are forecasting an increase of 20,000 jobs. I know that the Smulders yard in her constituency will seek to benefit from that because, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, it matters to this Government where things are made. We want those supply chain jobs here in the UK—jobs the Reform party would take away from constituents like hers and mine, with its anti-net zero ideology.”
“I appreciate the right hon. Member’s concerns, having spoken to the hydrogen industry myself, and the representation he has made to me and to the Energy Minister on this issue. I can assure him that the hydrogen strategy will be out soon.”