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British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

bbc.com

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Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#61

Post by 0x3f »

1970-01-01 wrote: post #53
0x3f wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can make this same argument about a great number of things. Why is steel any more critical than food or vaccines or the like? Indeed we got caught short of vaccines recently, and had some nontrivial consideration of running a military op against NATO member over it.

Steel comes from iron, which you can't grow. It's more critical than food, which you can grow. Same for vaccines.

> Steel comes from iron, which you can't grow

Right, and where is the iron coming from in the scenario where we can't import steel?

Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#62

Post by zmmmmm »

One more tiny piece of the global system of international order falling apart.

There was a time when people would have felt safe enough to rely on the multiplicity of strongly allied nations with steel production capability. Now that is not considered safe. Now steel production has to be protected because nations that were previously considered reliable strategic partners no longer are behaving that way.

It will happen slowly but piece by piece things will move and we will all pay a cost for it.

Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#63

Post by 0x3f »

matt727 wrote: post #50
0x3f wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can make this same argument about a great number of things. Why is steel any more critical than food or vaccines or the like? Indeed we got caught short of vaccines recently, and had some nontrivial consideration of running a military op against NATO member over it.

The food example, is the exact reason for large farming subsidies in the European Union. These were implemented as a founding initiative, due to the experience of food shortages during the second world war. A great number of things could be considered critical. Due to the nature of when access could be cut off, the main thing countries likely worry about being able to access, is things humans need to stay alive, and…

Farming subsidies are one of the most criticized parts of the EU. My comment isn't in support of it. But even so, subsidy is quite different from compulsory purchase. The question is: why is steel special. Not in a no-action-vs-some-action way, but why so aggressive?

Ironically I think it's the same for both steel and farmers: they provide votes.

Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#64

Post by intheitmines »

msuniverse2026 wrote: post #18

Interesting how they haven't repeated in this article earlier claims that the Chinese purchase of the steelworks was a strategic move to slowly destroy the blast furnaces by letting them cool under pretext of low demand.

See also Chinese companies buying UK private schools and closing them down

Original: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/02/chinese-company-...

https://archive.is/dRQsB#selection-2155.4-2155.79

Choice quote from the article

  Mike Parker, the school’s director of marketing, wrote on LinkedIn: “Whatever you read, this isn’t a VAT story. It isn’t a ‘falling rolls, unstoppable decline’ story. The truth is deeper and more complex and, eventually, the truth will out.”

Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#65

Post by 1970-01-01 »

0x3f wrote: post #61
1970-01-01 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steel comes from iron, which you can't grow. It's more critical than food, which you can grow. Same for vaccines.

> Steel comes from iron, which you can't grow Right, and where is the iron coming from in the scenario where we can't import steel?

As it is top-critical, you're recycling it, opening new mines, and taking it by force.

Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#66

Post by gib444 »

n4r9 wrote: post #49
GJim wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably you get your news content from Rupert Murdoch, the Daily Mail and UK News?

For what it's worth, I stopped paying the license fee because of how the BBC sucked up to the Tories in the lead up to the 2019 GE. From Newsnight displaying images of Corbyn that made him look like a Soviet stooge, to Laura Kuenssberg leaking postal vote ballot information, to Alex Forsyth saying that Boris Johnson "deserves" the election. People say that it's subject to complaints of bias from both sides of the spe…

> how the BBC sucked up to the Tories in the lead up to the 2019 GE

> Laura Kuenssberg

ughh yes so glad that era is behind us. Good riddance.

Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#67

Post by pydry »

mr_toad wrote: post #46
raverbashing wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds good until you run out of steel and out of sellers as well

Half of all steel in the UK is imported anyway, and there are many places to obtain it. Unless the UK goes to war with most of the world at the same time, it’s not going to have trouble getting steel.

If there is a large war, those countries will prioritize domestic consumption and the UK will immediately stop being able to produce weapons.

Domestic steel production is an essential element of being sovereign, as opposed to being the handpuppet of a larger power (like the US).

Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#68

Post by 0x3f »

1970-01-01 wrote: post #65
0x3f wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Steel comes from iron, which you can't grow Right, and where is the iron coming from in the scenario where we can't import steel?

As it is top-critical, you're recycling it, opening new mines, and taking it by force.

Don't most of these contingencies apply to steel in the first place?

Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#69

Post by 0x3f »

p_l wrote: post #41
petcat wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't NHS medical workers in a constant state of protest over low wages and bad working conditions? I know the doctor/nurse brain drain from Canada and the UK to the US used to be really bad. I haven't seen what the statistics are recently. [0] https://www.marketplace.org/story/2024/02/19/uk-nhs-doctor-s...

Honestly, a lot of it is related to pretty obvious attempts at dismantling the NHS by Westminster

Are they seeding it with incompetent middle management as a psy-op?

Re: British Steel taken into public ownership to protect 'vital' UK supply

#70

Post by 0x3f »

pydry wrote: post #67
mr_toad wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half of all steel in the UK is imported anyway, and there are many places to obtain it. Unless the UK goes to war with most of the world at the same time, it’s not going to have trouble getting steel.

If there is a large war, those countries will prioritize domestic consumption and the UK will immediately stop being able to produce weapons. Domestic steel production is an essential element of being sovereign, as opposed to being the handpuppet of a larger power (like the US).

> If there is a large war, those countries will prioritize domestic consumption and the UK will immediately stop being able to produce weapons.

Same with the iron we'd need to make our own steel.

And a current glut just makes it even cheaper for us to stockpile, vs spending on votes by propping up a failing industry.

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