British Steel crisis highlights UK risk of foreign ownership in critical infrastructure

OPINION

'We meet under exceptional circumstances, to take exceptional action, in what are exceptional times.'

It’s not quite Churchill, but the Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, did his best to convey the gravity of the situation when Parliament was recalled at the weekend to try and save British Steel from potential neglect or even sabotage by its Chinese owners.

After nearly 10 months of budget cutting and grim economic forecasts, MPs looked genuinely excited to be taking decisive action on an issue that the majority of the country is backing. Perhaps actually taking back control feels good?

The ink is barely dry on a special measures bill to temporarily take control of the Scunthorpe steel plant, but people are already asking how much of our infrastructure is owned by China or indeed other foreign interests.

The short answer is quite a lot. Chinese companies, who are legally obliged to align with the national Communist Party’s directives, have stakes in our water, power and transport infrastructure. Huawei’s attempted involvement in UK telecoms became a flashpoint, sparking fears of data breaches and surveillance.

But let's leave the potential espionage and geopolitical power moves to one side for now. It makes no sense to hand over profit-making, often monopolistic, strategic industries to anyone outside the UK democratic process - be that the Chinese state or a Cayman Islands hedge fund.

Since Thatcher’s great sell-off in the eighties, large parts of our public services have been taken over by foreign interests. This month will see the full takeover of Royal Mail by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský. At the same time the vulture capitalists from Hong Kong and America are circling the ailing Thames Water as it frantically searches for new owners to take on its £19 billion debt mountain.

If taking back control of steel can get MPs into work on a Saturday, why not mail, rail, energy and water? Over two thirds of us back public ownership of these key public services. Government has proven it can act decisively if it needs to. It's time to put these industries in service of the British public.