‘Dangerous and detached': Steel industry chief slams Ed Miliband on net zero
On the latest Planet Normal podcast, which you can listen to using the audio player below, columnists Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson are joined by Simon Boyd, the managing director of REIDsteel, to discuss the future of the steel industry in the UK.
Mr Boyd did not hold back in his criticism of Ed Miliband, the Secretary for Energy and Climate Change.
He said: 'He is so far detached from reality and I think it's quite dangerous.' He warned that Mr Miliband's net zero policies were wrecking UK manufacturing, 'exporting jobs overseas and then reimporting the product made in dirty factories.'
Mr Boyd described net zero as 'an absolute disaster' for steel and manufacturing, and said he did not understand the confusing government policy. 'They're encouraging everyone to buy British steel with one hand, but with the other, they demand low carbon content materials. It doesn't work.'
Mr Boyd called for public ownership of British Steel to save the industry: 'Only public ownership will put the investment in to protect this core industry.' On energy, he advocated using domestic resources and nuclear: 'I'd continue drilling in the North Sea and push for modular reactors.' He concluded that the current net zero drive was 'absolute madness' and strangling UK manufacturing.
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