UK metals industry calls for political stability

Industry leaders and public servants have called on the new UK government to provide much-needed stability for the metals industry today at the UK Metals Expo, after years of an "inconsistent" approach under the previous government.

Attendees at the event in Birmingham, England, heard that the new government is expected to "hit the ground running" after years in opposition, with a clear manifesto commitment to industrial strategy.

"We've seen a lot of disruption, first from Brexit and then from the Covid-19 pandemic," said Seamus Nevin, chief economist and director of MAKE UK, the UK's manufacturers association. "There have been 15 different ministers in charge of industrial policy over the years and six different revisions of government strategy. The amount of churn and change has been very disruptive, you can't run a company like that. Following the last general election, we now have a new government which committed from day one to a new industrial strategy, with manufacturing at the forefront of their plans."

Nevin pointed to new policies by the Labour government which he expects, if successful, to help the metals and manufacturing industry gain a more stable footing after years of instability.

These include a new nationalised energy company, the removal of barriers to onshore wind power and the creation of a new statutory body, the Industrial Strategy Council (ISC), which will oversee future governments' policies in a similar way to the UK Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

"This new government is going to take a far more interventionist approach to industrial strategy than the previous one," said Timothy Stock, head of green industrial strategy at the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero. "We need be more clear-eyed about sectors which have growth opportunities and capitalise on where the UK has strengths. Taking a long-term view is vital."

Long-term view crucial to competitiveness

A more steady government with a strong mandate will need to set out long-term strategic goals for the UK's industries, which are crucial for international competitiveness, attendees heard, with personnel stability key to ensuring this.

"During the chaos of the last years of the last government, things did slow down," Stock said. "Things like having the same minister in charge at the secretary of state position for the whole five years of the government is an internal aim of theirs and one that I think is really valuable to build that knowledge base and consistency."

He added that the ability to take new ideas and commercialise them in the UK is also important, but this relies on "clear and visible" government policies. In the past, research and development undertaken in the UK has been picked up and commercialised in other countries such as the US and Germany.

"The transition to net zero is going to be heavily reliant on our foundation industries like metals. We can look at examples in the past where we've been successful, like deploying offshore wind turbines, where we haven't really seen the benefits in domestic manufacturing," said Stock. "As we drive towards net zero, this new government is cognisant of getting the benefits in terms of manufacturing, onshoring the manufacturing of these materials and parts and not just relying on imports. So building out those supply chains is a high priority."

Other panellists agreed that onshoring is part of the overall plan, especially with protectionism in metal-adjacent industries spreading around the world. Phillippa Oldham, stakeholder engagement manager at the UK Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), pointed to new rules around electric vehicles that mean domestic manufacturing must be a priority for the Labour government.

"The automotive sector is worth £80bn in revenue to the UK," she said. "The supply chain is the thing that is so critical here. There are things like EU rules of origin coming into force in the UK market, so we need to figure out how to localise those supply chains and make them circular here in the UK."

By Thomas Kavanagh