ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MURNAGHAN, 3.04.16

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Buy British Steel, that’s what the government is urging the public sector to do in an effort to help save the steel industry in the UK.  Bodies stretching from councils to NHS Trusts will have now to weigh up the social and economic impact on the UK before they buy steel from abroad.  Well Tom Pursglove is the Conservative MP for Corby and the founder of the Grassroots Out movement, he’s in Corby and a very good morning to you Mr Pursglove.  Now let’s talk steel then, you’re in a town that knows a thing or two about it, you want parliament recalled to discuss the issue, is that because you think it should amongst all the options be considering taking control perhaps?

TOM PURSGLOVE: I think so.  I mean this is an issue of great concern in my constituency, we’re talking about 600 families who are very worried about what the future holds.  Clearly all the options should be on the table, I don't think we should rule anything out.  Our steel industry is not competing on a level playing field, when you look at the Chinese dumping that’s happening at the moment.  I think when we enter these discussions with Tata about what can be done to try and secure the future of the industry, we all want a sustainable secure steel industry in this country, we shouldn’t rule anything out and if that involves to  my mind having a short period of public ownership in order to facilitate a buyer coming in, then that is something that we should consider because one thing that we know from Redcar is that once these sites stop production, it is very, very difficult to get them back into production, the costs are very prohibitive and we mustn’t let that happen.

DM: How do you know it would be a short period of almost protective ownership?  There aren’t exactly a queue of buyers out there to buy the whole thing.  

TOM PURSGLOVE: Well that would be the preferable option.  As we saw in 2007 where the core sites were purchased by Tata, if that sort of a transaction, that sort of arrangement could happen, I think that would be the best thing for the industry but we just mustn’t rule anything out.  What we’ve got to make sure is that we’ve got a steel industry in this country, it’s imperative for national security reasons, we’ve got thousands and thousands of jobs across the country at stake here, it’s so important that we get this right.

DM: Well let’s relate it all to your own constituency.  As I said in my introduction, Corby is a town that knows a thing or two about steel and the ending of steel making there and you’re presumably a believer in free markets as a Conservative, well the free market took its effect on the Corby steel industry and now proves that there is life after steel.

TOM PURSGLOVE: Well look, I’m one of the biggest free market Conservatives that you’ll ever come across but the fact is that our steel industry is not competing on a level playing field at the moment.  This Chinese dumping that we’re seeing is unfair, it’s uncompetitive.  When I look at the action that President Obama is taking in the United States – and I don’t agree with President Obama on very much – but he has introduced duties of 266% on Chinese steel that’s being dumped on the US market, I want to see that sort of action taken to try and protect our steel industry and unfortunately the European Union means that we cannot do that. If we were outside of the European Union we would be able to take full control of our own destiny and we’ve got to get back to a level playing field where our steel industry can compete because our steel is the best in the world.  What we produce here in Corby leads the world, you see it on the Millennium Wheel, you see it at Wembley Park, these are all really iconic national projects and I think we have got to protect that because frankly this is unacceptable, we’ve got to see stronger action. I want us to be able to take that action as a British government where at the moment we’ve got one hand tied behind our back.

DM: All right, well you are talking I think about the European dimension which we’ll discuss in a moment but do you think the government is overdoing it then in terms of it’s being accused, particularly George Osborne, of cosying up to the Chinese and this is what the Chancellor said on his most recent visit, one of his most recent visits to China, he said ‘Let’s stick together to make Britain China’s best partner in the West’.  Are they overdoing it?

TOM PURSGLOVE: There is a real risk I think at the moment.  With the Chinese steel industry acting in the way that it is there is a real risk, so quite often the argument is made that this is good for other forms of manufacturing in this country, having this accessibility to cheap steel.  The problem with that of course is the way that things are heading, we’re getting to a place where the Chinese steel industry is going to dominate the global market, by putting other steel producers around the world out of business that presents very real risks and the costs are going to be higher in the longer term for production of cast for example.  That is a big concern.  I think when it comes to the market economy status that the Chinese government are so desperately trying to secure at the moment and the EU is involved in those discussions and obviously British Ministers will be involved in those discussions as well, my position is very clear.  If the Chinese government wants to have that status they have to act in a responsible manner, there are international rules that govern trade and I believe that the Chinese government has to step up to the plate.  If they want to be considered as a leading market economy and be granted that status then they have to accept that they have international obligations, there certainly shouldn’t be any cosying up at all.  I think we need to set down the law very, very clearly on this, there are clear protections in place through the World Trade Organisation, I want to see those protections used to their fullest possible extent.

DM: Let’s talk about the EU dimension because you touched on it there, you’ll be aware of the EU officials who are saying the UK has been a ringleader in blocking the defence instruments for the steel industry that it says the EU wanted to bring in.

TOM PURSGLOVE: I’m sorry, Dermot, I didn’t hear that question at all. Unfortunately the traffic was horrendous that was just going by.

DM: Let’s just try again.  The UK according to some officials within the European Union, the UK has been the one that has been blocking some of the defence instruments, they call them, to protect the European steel industry.

TOM PURSGLOVE: I think we need to look at all the options and I think that actually the European Union really does need to take note of what’s happening in the United States, as I say duties of 266%.  That will be the sort of action that is going to deter this sort of dumping that we’re seeing and we’re obviously hearing over the weekend about the Chinese government introducing duties on high quality products that have been produced in this country.  Now whatever the arguments are, I think we need to take a leaf out of the Chinese book, we also need to take a leaf out of the United States book and follow suit.  We’ve got to make sure that our steel industry is protected in this country not only to protect the jobs that are bound up in it but also to make sure that frankly we have a steel industry in this country in the future that is able to function because frankly, you can’t take national security for granted.

DM: Okay, I just want to squeeze one last question in Mr Pursglove, on this poll you may have been reading about this morning in your Sunday papers and I know as the youngest Conservative MP it is part of your generation, according to this poll the majority of people in your generation favour remaining within the European Union.  You seem a bit out of step with that generation.

TOM PURSGLOVE: I think we’ve got a lot of work to do actually in the weeks ahead as part of the referendum campaign with younger people.  Young people that I speak to are very global in their outlook and I think that’s the message that we really need to get across, the very positive case about what being outside of the European Union will allow us to do in this country.  I want to be able to trade freely across the world with developing countries in particular, that’s not only good for us but also good for them, that is always a better way forward than aid but equally I want our young people to be able to go and work all over the world.  I think they are very internationalist in their outlook, I’m not sure we have made that case as strongly as we might.  It’s a big argument and I think that will appeal very much to younger people in this country and we need to get it across.

DM: Mr Pursglove, good to talk to you and thank you very much indeed and for dealing with some of the louder traffic there.  Tom Pursglove there in Corby.