Labour minister refuses to rule out another Chinese company running British Steel

Labour minister refuses to rule out another Chinese company running British SteelSource: Sky News

Transcript

00:00Will you rule out another Chinese partner for this plant?

00:03Well, we've had conversations that have been in good faith with Jingye up till recent times,

00:08and recently, obviously, we know that that has broken down.

00:13The relationship with China is a really important one, and it's really key that I say that.

00:17The second largest economy in the world, our fourth largest trading partner,

00:21hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK rely on that relationship.

00:23So you are comfortable with another Chinese partner for this plant?

00:27Whenever we look at any investment, there are stringent tests that have to be met,

00:32and they would apply to a Chinese company as they would to any other company.

00:36So, of course, we will be careful, we will make sure we do the right thing.

00:40Security is the number one issue, and when we're looking at critical infrastructure, it's very important.

00:45But we have a trading relationship with China, and that will continue to be the case.

00:49It's why the Chancellor was there, and it's why my colleague Douglas Alexander has been there last week.

00:55So you're not ruling out the possibility of another Chinese partner for this plant?

00:59Well, we're not at the moment.

01:00I'm not going to say yes or no to anything that isn't at the moment on the table or being looked at.

01:05Whatever the future for Scunthorpe, we want to make sure we can keep primary steelmaking,

01:11we can keep steelmaking in our country, and we can grow that industry,

01:16not see the continued decline that we've had over recent years.