The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 11th April 2025
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 11th April 2025
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
The unions have welcomed the Government’s efforts to save what’s left of the steel industry.
The Labour government’s move is a necessary first step to keep the steelworks going. But it’s only a bail-out. The emergency law to save the British Steel complex in Scunthorpe falls short of outright nationalisation. The legislation gives the Government powers to “protect” the plant by compelling the current Chinese owner, the Jingye Group, to transfer control to the government because it is a matter of national interest. But Jingye remains the owner of British Steel.
In these turbulent times with the global capitalist economy in turmoil over Trump’s tariffs the only way to ensure the survival of the steel industry in Britain is outright nationalisation, and the only way that Britain can withstand the crisis and avoid a catastrophic slump is to restore the welfare state and the public sector to the levels that existed back in the 1970s.
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who now heads the five-strong Independent Alliance in Parliament, says: “I will be supporting the permanent, public, democratic ownership of steel. While we’re at it – let’s do the same for water, energy, rail and mail too.” That indeed would be a good start.