British Steel

Mark Ferguson Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

It would be helpful to understand the Opposition’s official position when it comes to China. China is the world’s second largest economy and our fourth largest trading partner. Hundreds of thousands of jobs in this country rely on our relationship and our trade with China. We on the Government Benches believe in free and open trade, and we will continue on that basis. The hon. Lady suggests that that is not the Conservative party’s official opinion; it would be useful to understand that.

Some 70,000 jobs have been lost in North sea oil and gas since the Conservatives were in power, because it is a declining basin and it is getting harder to drill for oil and gas—we know that. The transition is happening; the issue is how we support that. This Government are putting in place a huge amount of support to try to ensure that those very skilled workers can transition into the green energy sector. I repeat this statistic: £43.7 billion of private sector investment in clean energy has been promised since this Government came to power. Is it really the Conservatives’ opinion that we should throw away all that investment and not protect all those jobs for the future?

[Mark Ferguson (Gateshead Central and Whickham) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her statement and for her swift action. The people of Scunthorpe will be grateful, but as my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald) noted, that stands in contrast to the way in which the people of Redcar and other areas were so cruelly abandoned by the last Government. The steel industry is not the production of steel alone; it also includes the supply chain. The Davy Roll Company, now Union Electric Steel, in my constituency, at the heart of Gateshead, performs a vital role as the last cast steel roll maker in the UK. The Minister has met representatives from the company, so will she update me on the work that she is doing to protect not only the steel industry where steel is made, but the wider supply chain?

[Sarah Jones]

I have met representatives from Union Electric Steel—everyone still calls it Davy Roll. The supply chain is incredibly important, and we are looking at it in our plan for steel. However, the investments made across Government more broadly over the years show that that supply chain, in whichever area of manufacturing it is found, has not been protected. The Ministry of Defence is keen to secure the supply chain in the UK for the investment that we are putting into defence, whether in aerospace, advanced manufacturing or space. We need to build supply chain capacity here in the UK because the world has changed and we have different priorities now, and my hon. Friend is right to raise that.

Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill

Mark Ferguson Excerpts

2nd reading
Saturday 12th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mark Ferguson (Gateshead Central and Whickham) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his speech and his decisive action. This will be a meaningful day for the people of Scunthorpe. I know how important jobs in the steel industry are. Davy Roll, otherwise known as Union Electric Steel, has stood at the heart of Gateshead, in our town centre, for over 150 years. It is the only cast steel roll maker left in the country and it is at risk of closure. Steel is incredibly important for our future, and the Government are taking decisive action.

I am reminded today of a place close to my constituency. Ten years ago, the people of Redcar were let down. I pay tribute to Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Anna Turley), for their campaigning. At the time, Redcar had the second most efficient blast furnace in Europe, and yet it was abandoned, along with 2,300 jobs. A proud town was let down. Today, Scunthorpe and Redcar have learned the difference a Labour Government make and the difference decisiveness makes: they save jobs and change lives.

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Thank you for that. If Members can keep contributions to around three minutes, that will be helpful. I call Liz Saville Roberts.

Scunthorpe Steelworks

Mark Ferguson Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I will certainly ensure that we do not do anything that reduces our ability to stand on our own two feet. I can give the right hon. Gentleman that assurance.

[Mark Ferguson (Gateshead Central and Whickham) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her comments on the national steel strategy and for agreeing to meet the owners of Union Electric Steel in my constituency. Does she agree that continuing to be able to produce cast steel rolls in the UK is an essential part of the steel strategy that will benefit Scunthorpe, Port Talbot and other communities?

[Sarah Jones]

I am very much looking forward to the meeting with my hon. Friend’s constituents, who are an important part of the steel chain. He makes an important point: we make many different products and have many different assets in the UK that we need to protect, beyond the big six steel companies.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

Mark Ferguson Excerpts

Tuesday 25th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yuan Yang (Earley and Woodley) (Lab)]

We have heard how the rise in the national minimum wage will deliver a direct pay increase for over 3 million workers. For the first time in history, the minimum wage in this country is being linked to the true cost of living, beginning the journey of making it a genuine living wage. We can take from history a wealth of economic evidence on the positive impacts of minimum wages, which shows they lead to overall rises in pay with no significant impact on employment.

Although I take on board the questions of the hon. Member for West Worcestershire (Dame Harriett Baldwin), and I appreciate her contributions as a fellow Treasury Committee member, studies have shown time and again that while similar concerns echoed throughout the ’80s and ’90s, the overall outcome of increasing the minimum wage is simply that: an increase in pay with no significant impact on employment.

[Mark Ferguson (Gateshead Central and Whickham) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that many of the concerns shared by the Conservatives are the same as those raised at the time of the introduction of the minimum wage?

[Yuan Yang]

Yes, that is the case. We have heard such concerns raised throughout history, yet when we look at econometric evidence that looks in hindsight at the actual impact on the economy, we see that there is no discernible impact.

I will whizz through a few different studies. In the United States there is David Card and Alan Krueger’s study, based on the 1992 increase in New Jersey’s minimum wage, the 1988 rise in California’s minimum wage and the federal minimum wage increase the following year. In the European Union there is Tomas Kucera’s 2017 study from 18 countries. In the UK there is Christian van Stolk’s 2017 study. We can go on and on about the evidence, but we can see from the trends that, although these concerns have been raised over time, the outcome is increases in the minimum wage, which is what we are seeking to ensure.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Ferguson Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mark Ferguson (Gateshead Central and Whickham) (Lab)]

19. What steps his Department is taking to support high streets.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)]

Working across government with mayors, local authorities and—crucially—local communities, we are beginning to tackle antisocial behaviour and crime, reforming business rates, working with the banking industry to roll out 350 banking hubs, stamping out late payments, empowering communities to make the most of vacant properties, strengthening the post office network and reforming the apprenticeship levy.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gareth Thomas]

I commend my hon. Friend not only for his work recently on Small Business Saturday, but as the leader of Derby council in driving the town centre regeneration work that he mentioned. We are determined to establish a small business growth service to provide better support and information to small businesses so that entrepreneurs in this country can take advantage of new powers to set up small businesses on the high street, perhaps capitalising on the high-tech, high-growth sectors of the economy to which Derby has access, and in that way making sure that we see benefits from the industrial strategy not just for bigger businesses, but for smaller businesses.

[Mark Ferguson]

My hon. Friend will know from his visit to Gateshead this week some of the fantastic small businesses we have on our high street, but also some of the incredible challenges faced by so many high streets and town centres. With that in mind, will he tell us what the Government are doing on access to finance for small businesses?

[Gareth Thomas]

Despite the considerable cold, I very much enjoyed my recent visit to Gateshead town centre, and I was impressed by the dynamism of the businesses that he and I met at his instigation in the railway quarter. One of the things we are determined to do is to increase access to finance for small businesses up and down the country. That is why we have provided over £1 billion across this year and next year for the British Business Bank, particularly to drive access to finance for small businesses such as the ones to which he introduced me.