Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Doughty Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

4. What recent steps he has taken to support the steel industry.

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

8. What recent steps he has taken to support the steel industry.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Lady may be interested to know that it was the Secretary of State who asked for an emergency meeting of the European Council to discuss this issue of unfair trade for the first time and to make sure that when the EU takes action, it does so appropriately and in a speedy fashion. The EU is considering the issue of market economy status. When it puts forward a proposal, we will take a careful look at it. Even if a country does have market economy status, that does not stop the EU taking action, as is shown by the examples of Russia and the US.

[Stephen Doughty]

As you are aware, Mr Speaker, I have concerns about a written answer that I received last week from the Ministry of Defence. It stated that

“the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold a complete, centralised record of steel procurement for projects and equipment, either in terms of quantity or country of origin, over the past six years.”

Why on earth should we believe the Government’s promises on procurement when they do not even keep records in the Ministry of Defence, and what will the Secretary of State do about it?

[Sajid Javid]

We are the first country in the EU to take advantage of new procurement rules. When it comes to defence needs and other infrastructure projects, we should use British steel whenever we can. For example, the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers are 94% British steel—that is 77,000 tonnes. Last week I visited Crossrail, the biggest infrastructure project in Europe, and almost all of it is British steel.