Keir Starmer today took the rare move of recalling Parliament in order to pass a new law paving the way for the nationalisation of British steel.
The move is curious for a number of reasons.
The first of these is why the Government is acting at all.
While it’s true to say that allowing Britain’s remaining blast furnace to close now would trigger thousands of job losses, this intervention will likely only delay the point at which those job losses occur.
British steel plants are losing huge amounts of cash every day, with ministers conceding privately that they likely only have about five years’ operational life left in them.
And while there may be a way for them to transition to newer, sustainable technologies at some point, such a shift remains uncertain at best.
The second curious part of the decision is why to intervene in favour of this specific sector.
Because while there is a reasonable case to be made for using large amounts of public cash to protect struggling British industries, it is not an argument the Government has made about other much larger industries facing hard times.
And there are plenty that need its help.
Take for instance the creative industries. This sector is a major British employer, employing around 10% of all UK workers, compared to the mere 0.1% of British workers still employed in steel.
Yet despite AI-based tech companies threatening to decimate their jobs, the UK Government is instead backing the uncertain future benefits of opening UK industries up to AI.
There is another, equally important part of the UK economy which requires the Government’s protection and is still not getting it.
And that is the around 10% of jobs that were dependent on the EU, pre-Brexit.
And when it comes to these workers, the UK Government seems content to keep their livelihoods under continued threat.
