Richard Tice outlines urgent action needed after renationalisation of British Steel: ‘Wake up!’

Richard Tice has outlined the urgent action still needed to revive the nation’s industries after British Steel was taken into public ownership this morning.

Speaking to GB News, the Reform Business Spokesman welcomed the move but insisted Labour need to “wake up” on further challenges.

Mr Tice celebrated that nationalising British Steel was “the right decision”, a policy he said he had been advocating for seven years.

“Credit where credit is due, they've listened to me. I've been saying for seven years that we need to take British Steel back into public ownership and then invest in rebuilding the blast furnaces so they're good for the next 50 years", he said.

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He argued the move would not be enough and that the need for reinvestment in British industry was critical.

“They've now got to commit to rebuilding those blast furnaces,” Mr Tice insisted, calling on a plan to modernise the British Steel Scunthorpe plant.

Blast furnaces are vital to the production of virgin steel, a necessary component in numerous industrial processes. Without this ability, Britain would be reliant on imports of the product.

“We should not be in a position of being the only G20 nation that cannot produce virgin steel. But that requires major investments into those blast furnaces.”

However, the Reform MP suggested that Labour would not be up to the task.

“I’m afraid (Business Secretary) Peter Kyle is being a bit lightweight and mealy-mouthed and all sorts of eco zealot, like saying firms want to buy green steel", he said.

“They only say that because they have to be politically correct because of net stupid zero,” he claimed.

Turning to one of Britain’s other most famous steelworks in Port Talbot, Mr Tice despaired, “that ship has sailed”.

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The Reform Business Spokesman also argued that soaring energy costs in Britain meant that planned electric arc furnaces could still face serious challenges.

Mr Tice’s biggest concern was the cost of electricity, which he also blamed on Net Zero policies.

“My concern in Port Talbot is that Tata might build those electric arc furnaces, but they may never turn them on because of the price of electricity.”

To that end, he called on incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham to rethink Labour’s approach to energy and industry.

“Andy Burnham, you have to wake up and realise Net Zero is what's killing jobs, killing industries, meaning we all pay much higher electricity prices.

“It's destroying skilled jobs and sending our businesses overseas,” Mr Tice insisted.

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