FRESH WARNINGS ON FUTURE OF STEEL PLANTS AFTER TORY EXTREME BREXIT

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FRESH WARNINGS ON FUTURE OF STEEL PLANTS AFTER TORY EXTREME BREXIT

Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey has called on the UK Government to listen to the warnings of UK Steel and not risk the EU protections which safeguard jobs in Scotland’s steel industry.

Tory plans for a hard Brexit risk exposing the UK market to the dumping of Chinese steel – threatening the industry across the country, including the Clydebridge plant in Cambuslang which was saved from permanent closure last year by the Scottish Government.

The European Commission announced earlier this year that it was increasing import tariffs on Chinese steel. However, with the threat of the UK being dragged out of the single market and customs union, potentially with no deal in place, these protections could be compromised.

UK Steel chief executive Gareth Stace urged UK ministers to impose a regime that “prevents Government-financed products being illegally dumped”, and warned that jobs could be put at risk.

Commenting, SNP MSP Clare Haughey said:

“These are serious warnings from the leading industry body about the future of our steel industry.

“Just last year the Scottish Government took decisive action to save the Clydebridge and Dalzell plants to protect jobs in Scotland’s steel industry – yet now we have a new threat because of the Tories’ reckless Brexit obsession.

“As UK Steel’s warnings make clear, an extreme Tory Brexit – out of the single market and customs union – would diminish vital protections and put at risk jobs across the country.

“Falling back on WTO rules alone could risk a return to the dumping of Chinese steel that threatened our plants in the first place.

“The European Commission has committed to protecting our steel industry from cheap imports – it’s vital that the UK government does likewise, and stands up for our jobs and communities by committing to single market membership after Brexit.”

ENDS

Notes:

Below is a photograph with Clare Haughey MSP at Liberty Steel, Clydebridge in August 2017.