Labour minister clashes with Sky News presenter over British Steel future: 'Give us an answer'Credit: Sky News
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00:00Can you categorically say, here, now, this morning, that the furnaces will continue to burn?
00:07I can categorically say that we as a government are doing everything we can to make sure they continue.
00:13I can say we are a government of industry. We've supported other industries around the country.
00:19We intervened in Port Talbot, in Grangemouth, to support Harland and Wolfe.
00:23You know, we are now intervening in Scunthorpe because we need steel making capacity in the UK.
00:28We need it for our national security. We also need it for our plan for change, delivering one and a half million new homes, delivering all the infrastructure that we set out.
00:37We have big projects coming down the line, Heathrow expansion, the investment by Universal Studios, which we saw last week.
00:44All of the other investments we need to make in hospitals, railways, roads and so on over the next few years.
00:49We want to protect the future of steel making in the UK.
00:51I hear that, but what about the people's jobs that are potentially at risk?
00:55Can you say to them, here and now, their jobs are safe?
01:00So we're doing everything we can to support Scunthorpe.
01:03Are you confident that will happen?
01:05I'm confident we're doing everything we can.
01:07That doesn't really answer the question.
01:09Yeah, because, you know, we have to make sure that we get those raw materials into the blast furnaces.
01:13Where are they?
01:14As I say, they are in the UK.
01:16In the UK, but not in sight.
01:17Well, they're in the UK and they're nearby.
01:19There are limits to what I can say because there are commercial operations going on here.
01:24But what we need to do and what we are doing is make sure we get those raw materials into the blast furnaces to keep them going.
01:30And I think, you know, look at what happened in Port Talbot.
01:33Look at what's happened in Grangemouth.
01:35Look at the way the government has responded to other challenges that we face.
01:38We have said to people working in these industries, we're not just going to look the other way, walk away, you know, turn our back on workers.
01:47Will the materials be here today at some point?
01:50The raw materials are in the UK.
01:52As I've said, I can't say...
01:53On site, in Scunthorpe.
01:54You know what I'm asking you.
01:55I know what you're asking and the commitment...
01:57So give us an answer.
01:58The commitment that I can give you is that officials working on behalf of the Business Secretary are doing everything they possibly can
02:05to get those raw materials to the blast furnaces to make sure they continue their operation.