Andy Burnham set to face imminent test as Labour gambles £2.5bn to reverse Britain's industrial decline

Andy Burnham is set for an imminent test as Labour is set to gamble £2.5billion to reverse Britain’s industrial decline.

Following the closure of Tata Steel at Port Talbot last year, the UK’s crude steel production fell to just 2.6 million tonnes, the lowest within the modern era.

An exclusive report shared with GB News, by FACTS4EU, in association with The Campaign for an Independent Britain and Stand for Our Sovereignty, shows what could be a potential tripping point for Andy Burnham as he looks set to lead the country.

Labour has pledged that up to half of the steel used in Britain should eventually be produced domestically, compared with around one quarter in 2025.

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It has also pledged to increase the proportion of UK-made steel used in public provisions and to address the high industrial electricity prices that manufacturers have long argued place them at a competitive disadvantage.

The Government aims to make these changes by transitioning to electric arc furnaces.

Unlike traditional blast furnaces, EAFs recycle scrap steel using electricity, dramatically reducing carbon emissions and aligning steel production with the Government's wider net-zero ambitions.

The main project focuses on Tata Steel’s £1.25billion investment at Port Talbot, an investment that features £500million of Government funding.

Lord Redwood told GB News: “The Government says it will save the UK's last two blast furnaces and the 4,000 jobs at Scunthorpe, and – at the same time – that it remains committed to an all-electric, steel-producing future. This means closing the furnaces and sacking many of the people.

“It needs to make up its mind and tell the truth to its employees.

“Its failure to acquire the company and assets could cost us dear, as the owner claims compensation. The huge losses at more than £500millon a year are eating through the £2.5billion cash the Government planned to spend on new steel investment.

“They could end up closing the loss-making plant without a new electric arc plant to replace it.

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“The Government still will not publish a plan on how to cut the losses, how to sell the steel, nor how long the plant can run for.

In 2025, Britain produced just over a third of the steel produced by smaller economies in the EU, such as Poland and Belgium.

The EU’s worst-performing major economy, Germany, managed to produce an output of steel 13 times greater than that of the UK.

Lord Redwood concluded: “Steel is a once-great industry destroyed by self-harming Net Zero policies.

“The UK cannot compete when it has some of the highest energy prices in the world, and when it heaps carbon taxes and emissions trading on high energy users like steel.

“Far from cutting world CO2, our policy of relying on steel imports increases world carbon, adding fuel burn to ship the steel.

“This often comes from foreign steel plants burning coal that generates more CO2.

“Taxpayers are having to pay huge subsidies to Scunthorpe to offset the high carbon costs as the UK struggles this year to produce 2m tonnes or around just one fifth of our demand.“

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