Stephen Kinnock: My understanding is that a very prominent and well-known producer of British steel has been informed by EDF that they are not allowed to tender on the basis of what appear to be spurious health and safety grounds. I encourage the Government immediately to carry out an independent evaluation of why that producer was not allowed to tender. Let us hear it from an independent evaluator, because...
Stephen Kinnock: I have heard the Minister and many of her colleagues assure us on the Floor of the House that a large portion of the steel used in the HS2 project will be British. I can only go on the Minister’s words. We shall see, as we have seen before, whether the Government’s words and actions match up.
Stephen Kinnock: I agree entirely. There are two elements to this crisis. One is the short-term perfect storm that we are facing. The lack of Government support for building the industry’s resilience is a major contributing factor to that. The other element is equally worrying in many ways: the complete absence of a long-term strategy—nothing on research and development and innovation, nothing on...
Stephen Kinnock: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Stephen Kinnock: The hon. Gentleman mentioned the important issue of the power plant at Port Talbot, which has a green light for its planning. I understand that construction of the plant and its operation would save between £25 million and £30 million a year on energy bills for the Port Talbot plant, so it would be a huge saving and a great boost to the plant. Does he agree that it would be welcome if the...
Stephen Kinnock: On chronology, we hear very often from the Government that all the problems have existed for a long time and that many were building up on Labour’s watch from 1997 to 2010. I accept that point, but there was no Chinese rebar in the British market in 2011. Today, 45% of rebar is Chinese. In the past four years we have seen a total absence of action. The Government have been asleep at the...
Stephen Kinnock: The promises, and the lack of delivery on those promises, specifically on market economy status for China, have been a constant theme. China’s current non-market economy status will be up for review in December 2016. The first step in reaching a decision will the European Commission making a recommendation. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is time for the British Commissioner, Lord Hill,...
Stephen Kinnock: We understand, of course, that the Chinese economy needs to grow, and China has every right to do that, but does my hon. Friend agree that potentially there is an agenda about dumping? That agenda is to dump the steel, drag the price down, kill the British steel industry and, as soon as that has happened, move in and put the prices up: profits go back up and we are nowhere to be found.
Stephen Kinnock: Another important avenue to explore is exactly what deal the Prime Minister did with President Xi Jinping on the China visit.
Stephen Kinnock: Will the Minister give way?
Stephen Kinnock: We have very little time left. It is clear that the burning issue, which was raised by all hon. Members present, is market economy status. It seems that the Minister has moved off the dumping ask on to another ask.
Stephen Kinnock: I assumed the Minister had finished on dumping and ignored the most important point.
Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission an inquiry into contaminated blood in England and Wales.
Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19788, in how many cases liability has been established for people infected by contaminated blood.
Stephen Kinnock: rose—
Stephen Kinnock: Does this not ultimately boil down to risk management? Any business looking to invest will weigh up its risks; if we are looking at continuing a subsidy through to 2017, that will clearly play a role in how a business thinks about its risk portfolio before it actually makes the investment that it needs to make. Nobody here is saying that it is black or white—subsidies for ever or straight...
Stephen Kinnock: Does this not ultimately boil down to risk management? Any business looking to invest will weigh up its risks; if we are looking at continuing a subsidy through to 2017, that will clearly play a role in how a business thinks about its risk portfolio before it actually makes the investment that it needs to make. Nobody here is saying that it is black or white—subsidies for ever or straight...
Stephen Kinnock: The dumping of Chinese steel is crippling the British steel industry. The granting of market economy status to China would dramatically reduce the scope for taking anti-dumping measures. Why, then, is the Prime Minister supporting market economy status for China? Is it because he puts cosying up to Beijing ahead of protecting British industry?
Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to apply to the EU's Globalisation Adjustment Fund for funding for the UK steel industry.