Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[BazaJT]

After years of budget squeezes/cuts I see that Cameron and his merry band are encouraging public sector bodies-NHS trusts and the like to buy british steel in order to save the industry.With EU and World Trade Organisation rules we can't stop/ban imports of steel from China or anywhere else even if we wanted to and contractors are obliged to take into account many factors such as carbon footprint etc when buying in materials.China of course has been flagrantly ignoring WTO rules when making huge amounts of steel at a loss and then dumping it on the market at low prices.So Camerons "encouragement" seems a little like stable,horse,door,bolted for such a measure to save the British steel industry.

[STEMO]

I would imagine the people that use most Steel in the UK are the construction industry and, possibly, the rail industry. The construction industry is privately run and, even when taking on contracts for the government departments, would have to treat each contract on it's merits. If the government made winning the contract dependant on using British steel, the EU and foreign competing contractors would go mental. Also, would the government pay over the odds for the contract because British steel is more expensive? Very murky waters.

[STEMO]

Ship building too, never thought of that one. But same principles apply.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Anyone think we should start a trade war with the chinks?......

Just asking.

[alfie]

I worked in the steelworks for many years,and feel that the government has let china get away with murder.Thinking about who buys and use's steel,why don't the press reveal the companies that purchase british/china steel,that would make more people think twice about who they support.
                           Alfie

[ted_one]

It's not only their steel that's shite,take a look at Gay Bay,Poundland and most domestic importers of various goods.. shite,shite and yet more fake shite.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Its just government bullshit / spin. There are strict EU regulations governing Govt. purchasing / contract tendring etc. The criteria of the regs. must be fulfilled and purchases made under that criteria regardless of country of origin.
They cant advertise that though, as folk might start to think we aren't actually a self governing nation any more. 

[05omegav6]

Its just government bullshit / spin. There are strict EU regulations governing Govt. purchasing / contract tendring etc. The criteria of the regs. must be fulfilled and purchases made under that criteria regardless of country of origin.
They cant advertise that though, as folk might start to think we aren't currently a self governing nation. 

Fixed... Give it a few months

[Entwood]

Given that ...

The vast majority of folks have no wish to pay higher taxes

The vast majority of folks really want to pay less taxes

The government and councils make no money whatsoever, they can only spend what they raise in taxes

The vast majority of folks want government/councils to spend more on whatever pet project is in their mind right now .. from cheap housing to saving the steel industry to improving roads /railways to providing kids with free meals to cutting waiting times at doctors /hospitals etc etc etc etc

It thus appears that the vast majority of folks don't have a functioning brain cell worth talking about as the above ideas are mutually exclusive

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Agreed - mostly. I don't want the govt. to do a thing for me, and I don't want to give them my money, as they evidently waste most of what they take.
I do think they should be able to make the decision to take an objective look at the possibility of subsidising the steel industry, by way of long term loans.
It can be argued that the current problems are short to medium term, and when things pick up  / get back to normal, we wont have a steel industry left to take advantage of that. We will then be at the mercy of foreign companies and Govts. for steel, just like we are for most other things nowadays.
The problems in 2008 showed us we would be better to have a more broad based economy, and particularily need to expand our manufacturing base. We cant keep relying on the financial sector for evermore.
Imo,it will bite us on the arse again, if we do.

[05omegav6]

Agreed - mostly. I don't want the govt. to do a thing for me, and I don't want to give them my money, as they evidently waste most of what they take.
I do think they should be able to make the decision to take an objective look at the possibility of subsidising the steel industry, by way of long term loans.
It can be argued that the current problems are short to medium term, and when things pick up  / get back to normal, we wont have a steel industry left to take advantage of that. We will then be at the mercy of foreign companies and Govts. for steel, just like we are for most other things nowadays.
The problems in 2008 showed us we would be better to have a more broad based economy, and particularily need to expand our manufacturing base. We cant keep relying on the financial sector for evermore.
Imo,it will bite us on the arse again, if we do.

Either industry is State owned or privately owned.

If State owned throw money at it when times are tough and reap the rewards when times are good...

However, if, as in this case, it's privately owned, then it's subject to market forces. And whilst it's easy to blame the current government, let's not forget that whilst we have started to recover  financially, the rest of the world is still in the shit. China, as rapidly developing second world economy, has a lot more to lose than either the UK or TATA.

Allowing TATA to import steel to build their cars here is arguably a better approach than forcing them to move their manufacturing plants overseas, whereby we would lose both the steel plants AND the car plants...

Union involvement will only serve to render the plants closed.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I agree with most of that, but the problem is that China isn't actually a real market economy. In the end, their govt. controls everything and they are deliberately wrecking world steel markets to limit damage to their own economy, caused by genuine market forces.
If we are naïve enough to meet this with nothing more than a good old British sense of fair play and adhering strictly to the rules, when the price of steel goes back up,we will have no choice but to pay the Chinese what they decide to charge us for their steel.
I believe that politicians staying out of business is a goods rule, but there are exceptions to every rule, and this could be one of them.
More importantly perhaps, our elected Govt. should be able to decide what actions it will take, rather than having to be very limited in what it can do by people in another country who have never stood for election to anything in their lives.

[TheBoy]

Allowing TATA to import steel to build their cars here is arguably a better approach than forcing them to move their manufacturing plants overseas, whereby we would lose both the steel plants AND the car plants...

I think you will find that Tata already make JLR vehicles in China and Brazil

[05omegav6]

Allowing TATA to import steel to build their cars here is arguably a better approach than forcing them to move their manufacturing plants overseas, whereby we would lose both the steel plants AND the car plants...

I think you will find that Tata already make JLR vehicles in China and Brazil

So it wouldn't take much to persuade them to close the UK plants...

[Sir Tigger KC]

I'm not sure that even if the British government wanted to subsidise the steel industry, they can't due to EU rules?