UK steel should be designated as 'nationally critical infrastructure' amid Trump tariffs, Unite urges

Yesterday, the Department for Business and Trade unveiled a new multi-billion pound investment in Heathrow, which it says will drive a significant increase in demand for UK steel.

At British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, airport bosses signed the UK Steel Charter, which signals the airport’s commitment to use UK-made steel wherever possible as part of its investment programme.

The Government has claimed this will secure thousands of existing steel jobs, both at Scunthorpe and across the country.

Unite welcomed the announcement and the UK Steel Charter, but said the Government should go further.

It said that clear rules are urgently needed to ensure that all major infrastructure projects should use UK steel, and called on the Government to classify the material as “critical national infrastructure”.

Unite has also called for the introduction of clear public sector procurement rules to ensure that all public sector projects use UK produced steel.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: “We welcome Heathrow’s commitment to UK produced steel and we look forward to further cooperation with Heathrow Airport and the government on the much needed third runway.

“This steel deal needs to become standard practice on all UK major infrastructure projects.

“It is madness that public money is still being used to buy foreign steel.

“Procurement rules must be rewritten to ensure that all publicly supported projects use our steel.

“Other nations have pursued these practices for decades, there is no reason why the UK can’t follow suit.

“Protecting our steel industry is essential to boost our economy and in the interest of national security.

“With Trump introducing steel tariffs next month the government needs to act quickly.”

At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer told MPs the UK would not “abandon” steelworkers after he was quizzed about Mr Trump’s tariffs.

The European Union has promised to retaliate over US tariffs, but Sir Keir said he is still assessing what the UK response will be.

Sir Keir told MPs: “British steel is an essential part of our heartlands, and we will not abandon our skilled workforce, and it needs a level-headed assessment of the implications, which is what we’re going through at the moment.

“But we will always put our national interest first, and steelworkers first.”

He was responding to Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who suggested the UK should retaliate with tariffs on American electric cars – a measure aimed at Mr Trump’s ally and Tesla boss, Elon Musk.

A Government spokesperson added: “We want a bright and sustainable future for the steel sector in the UK and we are clear we will always work in the national interest to support the sector when we can.

“This includes maximising the amount of UK-made steel in public projects where possible and we will publish our steel strategy shortly which will set out our plan to back the industry.”