Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025

Lord Rook Excerpts

Thursday 23rd October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rook (Lab)]

My Lords, it is always a privilege to rise in this House, and it is a particular honour to contribute in a debate comprising the excellent maiden speech of my noble friend Lady Lloyd of Effra. I know all noble Lords will look forward with me to her contribution to this House and, in the context of this debate, to witnessing her expert and steely-eyed focus on the importance of business and work to our country, economy and communities.

My speech will also echo some of the views expressed about community by others in your Lordships’ House. I am particularly grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed, for his early remarks on the importance of this for our communities, and to the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Llanfaes. I suspect that my view may be different from that of the noble Lord, Lord Hannan, and that it will resonate less with what he has just said. However, I do not see this as a step backwards; I see it as a step forward into a world where businesses do not have to pick just one thing over another, but can prioritise profit, purpose, people and planet.

For too long, many of the towns and communities that built this country and led the world’s first Industrial Revolution have felt that government no longer works for them. We can debate the causes of that malaise but the effects are plain to see: mistrust of once-trusted institutions, declining faith in politicians and public servants, a growing attraction to the easy make-believe certainties of populism, and increasing social conflict and division. Too many people feel that policy has been designed for the haves—those with wealth, connections and capital—and not for the have-nots. The result is a sense of abandonment. In places where once work gave meaning and stability, and built bonds of trust between people who now feel forgotten, the very heart of the nation’s industrial life has been allowed to erode. Today’s debate on the British steel industry begs the question: can government once again serve those who built and sustained our industrial heartlands?

In Scunthorpe, as in other communities, steel is more than an employer; it is the economic and civic heart of the community. As the honourable Sir Nic Dakin, a Member in the other place, said:

“The … management and workforce … in Scunthorpe have been heroic. Our steelmakers are the finest in the world”.


As his neighbour, the honourable Martin Vickers, observed:

“When such industries decline … people feel cut off from their heritage, their culture and so much more”.


These are not only economic facts; they are social truths. When an industry such as steel falters, it is not just jobs that go: schools weaken, small businesses close, civic pride fades and social fabric frays. What follows is the hollowing-out of community life, the very problem we see in too many towns today.

At this point, I want to welcome my noble friend Lord Stockwood to this House. I recall, a few years ago, a friend telling me that they had been to an amazing meeting at Grimsby Town Football Club. I wondered whether a sentence like that had ever been uttered before, but apparently it was true, as my noble friend had gathered people from across the community to plan their town’s renewal. The Our Future initiative he helped to found, which now reaches well beyond Grimsby, is an example of what genuine regeneration looks like: enterprise, pride and collaboration together. This is exactly the approach we need in times like these. I welcome my noble friend and, if his maiden speech is any good, I may be prepared to forgive him for the fact that Grimsby knocked my team out of the FA Cup earlier this year.

At a time when our nation wrestles with division and distrust, the condition of places such as Scunthorpe is not a side issue. It is a test of whether we still believe in the social purpose of work and business. If we allow industrial decline to continue, we not only lose capacity but a sense of belief and belonging in our communities and our country. We make our country less secure and less competitive. We weaken the bonds that hold us together. That is why British Steel matters. It is not only an act of economic management; it is an act of social repair. By intervening to protect the blast furnaces and preserve our primary steel-making capability, the Government are saying to working people: “We see you. We value you. We will invest in your future”.

Steel should sit at the centre of a broader strategy linking infrastructure, national security, housing, rail and renewable energy to local employment and long-term investment, as we have heard many times already in this debate. The commitment of up to £2.5 billion to rebuild our steel industry is significant. It tells the people of Scunthorpe and beyond that their work is not second-class but central to our future as an economy and a society. Allowing steel capacity to vanish would be not only an economic failure but a moral one. Once those blast furnaces close, the skills and confidence of a community go with them, and they are not easily rebuilt.

Of course, the powers in this Act are exceptional and must be used with care. A decision borne of good stewardship by the Government will clearly need careful scrutiny in the future. But the principle is clear: protecting jobs means protecting communities; safeguarding industry means safeguarding civic life. Pursued with care and consistency, this legislation forms a wider covenant between government and community—a promise not to abandon the towns that built our prosperity but to walk with them into a new age. Renewal will certainly require partnership between public investment and private enterprise. Most of all, it will require the work, sweat and passion of local people who are proud of their town and determined to create a brighter future for their children.

This Act sets a moral direction for our industrial policy. It makes the statement that no community should be written off and no citizen deemed expendable. Looking to the future, we must speak to the fear in our old industrial towns that the next revolution—the digital revolution and the power of AI—will again pass them by. The truth is the opposite: we need steel —British steel—to power the future as much as we did to build the past. From wind turbines and electric vehicles to data centres, rail and clean energy, steel strengthens our national resilience and security, our energy security and the future of our economy.

Our steel-producing communities are not relics of a vanished age. They have a proud place in our history and a vital role in our future. They can once again stand at the heart of national renewal, powering the next generation of British industry with skill, pride and purpose. For that reason, I support the Government’s commitment to British Steel and to the many communities around the country who are working to create a future worth living.