Day: April 13, 2025

First Minister: Scotland must be resilient in face of global shocks

‘UK response must reflect changing reality.’

The Scottish Government will take steps to ensure Scotland is as “resilient as we can possibly be” in the face of global economic uncertainty, First Minister John Swinney has said.

Responding to the events of the last few weeks, the First Minister has called for a UK Government response that reflects the fact that “the world is changing around us”.

First Minister John Swinney said: “I know that this is a time of great uncertainty for people, that many families and businesses are worried about what global events will mean for their finances.  That is why I want us to be united and creative in our response, to ensure that we are as resilient as we can possibly be.

“My view is that UK response should include removing the self-imposed economic straitjacket of the Chancellor’s fiscal rules and reversing the job – and growth – destroying increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions. The world is changing around us and quite simply, the UK government needs to change too.

“It should include closer alignment with the European Union. If trade barriers are being constructed across the Atlantic, they must be swept away in the Channel and North Sea.

“And it should include investment in Scotland’s green industrial future.  If British Steel is to be nationalised to protect it, then so too should Grangemouth.

“If a supercomputer is to be built in the London-Oxford-Cambridge triangle, then the cancelled supercomputer for Edinburgh should be restored.

If carbon capture and storage is to proceed on Tyneside and Merseyside, it should be given an immediate green light for the north-east of Scotland too.

“This is what it means to get serious about Scotland’s economic future. Given the scale of the threat, anything less is not good enough.”

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray MP said: “The SNP were told a decade ago that the Grangemouth refinery would close. They and the Tories did nothing. 3 years ago they could have intervened but nothing.

“Labour win in July and suddenly the SNP want to pass blame. Total charlatans. If they truly cared they’d have done something, anything – but ZERO.

“We’ve delivered £200m from NWF, £100m Falkirk growth deal. That’s action.”

Government acts to save Scunthorpe steel production

  • Parliament recalled to introduce emergency powers that will allow the Government to protect the Scunthorpe site
  • Unique action to gives the best chance of safeguarding steelmaking, protecting jobs, national security and supply chains.
  • This strategic decision aims to secure domestic steel production for nationally important projects like airports, rail and housing and deliver growth at part of the Plan for Change.

Steelmaking is set to continue in Scunthorpe following urgent action by the UK Government.   

The Prime Minister requested the recall of Parliament to vote on emergency legislation to prevent the blast furnaces being shut down.

The move will maximise the chances of securing domestic steel production – a crucial national capability which was at risk of collapse under the site’s current ownership. This is a very specific intervention taken in exceptional circumstances.

British Steel’s owners Jingye confirmed their intention to close the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe immediately, despite months of negotiations in good faith and a generous offer of co-investment from the UK government of £500 million. 

If the blast furnaces were to be immediately switched off, this would put at severe risk the future of steelmaking at this unique site. 

The legislation will give the Government the power to direct the company’s board and workforce, ensure they get paid, and order the raw materials to keep the blast furnace running.

In the meantime, the Government has instructed the company’s UK management to continue the running of the plant to ensure the furnaces keep burning. This legislation means that anyone employed at the plant who takes steps to keep it running, against the orders of the Chinese ownership, can be reinstated if sacked for doing so.

Steel is vital for both the UK’s national security and manufacturing, and crucial for the Government’s mission to build 1.5 million new homes in the UK as part of its Plan for Change, with construction projects requiring millions of tonnes of steel. 

Given global economic instability, it is crucial that manufacturing is protected at home. That’s why the Government took action earlier this week to support the car industry by easing the path to the EV mandate and deliver a £30 million package to support the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which is expected to support 5,000 jobs and boost the economy by £5 billion.  

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “We will always do what is necessary to keep Britain secure at home and strong abroad. We are doing what previous governments have failed to, acting in the national interest to help secure UK steelmaking for the future.

“We negotiated with British Steel’s owners in good faith ever since coming to office. We made a generous offer of support to the company and I am deeply disappointed that we have been forced to take these measures, but Jingye have not been forthright throughout this process, and left us no choice but to act. 

“We’re in a new and changing world where it’s never been more important to support our security and build our resilience, so that we can have strength abroad and renewal at home, and that’s what this government has done.” 

A Bill was voted on by MPs on Saturday 12 April to ensure continuity of production at the Scunthorpe site – avoiding the danger and cost of allowing it to stop.  

Funding for the site will come from the Government’s £2.5bn steel fund, to help rebuild the industry over the next five years.