Legacy Brussels rules

Green levies put UK steel producers at disadvantage to foreign competitors, claims Jacob Rees-mogg

‘It makes it harder for us to compete. I want to see free markets and the quality of British steel will shine’

JACOB REES-MOGG has launched a stinging broadside against “idiotic” green levies that put Britain’s steel producers at a disadvantage to foreign competitors, in a strong hint that the Business Secretary could scrap the taxes.

The Business Secretary said it was “absolute madness” that the UK was retaining levies that were implemented under legacy Brussels rules – laws that Government sources pointed out were not being fairly implemented on the Continent by the likes of Germany.

He said: “Our steel industry now spends £30 [per megawatt hour] more for electricity than its competitors. This is absolute madness, because then you

say, we’ve got to help the industry. If we had energy [at the same cost] as everybody else, it wouldn’t need Government help.

“This £30 per megawatt hour is idiotic. It just makes it harder for us to compete. I want to see proper, competitive free markets and the good quality of British steel will shine through.”

Whitehall is understood to have been in talks for several months with the owners of British Steel’s plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire over a taxpayer bailout worth “hundreds of millions of pounds”.

The site, Britain’s second-biggest producer, was bought by Chinese firm Jingye out of insolvency in 2020 and employs around 4,000 people.

Although ministers have not ruled out stepping it, Mr Rees-mogg indicated that it was imperative that the steel industry be put on a firmer long-term financial footing now that Britain is no longer shackled to EU rules. His predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a consultation to provide high-electricity using businesses like steel and paper mills with help to pay their energy bills in August.

Relief for the costs of renewable levies, including Contracts for Difference, the Renewable Obligation and Feed in Tariffs, would be offered to an estimated 300 businesses.