Steel Industry Debate

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Tuesday 20th October 2015

(8 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Sajid Javid Portrait Sajid Javid
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The hon. Gentleman knows that we have already started taking action. As I have said, we have voted for action at the EU. We have in fact led the way on certain products. He will also know that the process is EU-led in terms of investigations. We have provided evidence where we found it. If he is aware of any stakeholders that have evidence that he thinks we may not have, I would like to see it.

Bob Blackman Portrait Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
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I congratulate my right hon. Friend and his team on their prompt and compassionate action on this problem and on dealing with this challenge. What consideration has he given to potentially pre-ordering steel for infrastructure projects, particularly on issues of national security?

Sajid Javid Portrait Sajid Javid
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My hon. Friend makes a good suggestion. As part of our approach to procurement, that is exactly what we are looking at. One thing that came out of the summit was that the industry understandably wants certainty about future demand. There is a commitment from the Government on major infrastructure projects involving HS2, aviation capacity, civil nuclear power and Trident, and if that kind of commitment could be more cross-party, it would help to provide that certainty.