Labour has kicked off the beginning of the end for British virgin steel in their Net Zero drive, in a move that has been slammed by critics.
Last night, the Government indicated the end might be nigh for virgin steel making in Britain in order to meet its Net Zero commitments.
Despite growing concerns about losing the infrastructure to make British virgin steel and an over-reliance on exports, the move is part of Labour’s long-awaited multi billion Steel Strategy, published on Thursday.
The strategy commits to electric arc furnaces (EAF) in a shift away from traditional blast furnaces, as a cleaner way of producing steel.
However, EAF cannot make virgin steel, which potentially risks British security if there was ever an urgent need to produce military assets, such as ships and tanks.
This comes after ministers spent nearly £400million of taxpayers’ money to sustain the UK’s last blast furnaces in the North – specifically Scunthrope in North Lincolnshire, after passing emergency legislation to take over management from Chinese steel conglomerate, Jingye, last April.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, retired Royal Navy Admiral Lord West, said: “We are still, notwithstanding what a lot of people think, a great power with a lot of interests including 14 overseas territories.
“It seems to me extraordinary that a country with that clout should not be able to produce virgin steel.
The British Steel Scunthorpe site in North Lincolnshire
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GETTY
“I can’t believe America, France, China or Russia would do that. We would be very silly to just throw that away.”
He added that despite there being the argument steel can be imported, Britain cannot “rely on even really old alliances”, referencing Donald Trump and his controversial tariffs.
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