2 weeks Ago By Tim Newark
Ed Miliband will do anything to pursue his deluded net zero plans – including agreeing a key infrastructure deal with China shortly before control of British steel had to be wrested back from the Communist superpower by the Government. Clearly, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary believes in making any sacrifice for net zero, even handing elements of our power grid to a foreign government. It defies belief that less than a month before Labour was forced to seize control of British Steel from the Chinese conglomerate, Jingye, amid claims of sabotage, Miliband flew to China to sign an agreement for a “clean energy partnership” that would allow China access to our power grid, battery storage and off-shore wind power.
It’s hard to imagine any more vital national infrastructure than that, but some Labour ministers are still denying a potential threat. “China’s not a hostile state but a country with whom we have a large important relationship,” Treasury minister James Murray insisted. In response to which, long-time critic of Chinese aggression, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, branded him a “buffoon”.
Given what has happened in Scunthorpe, we must question every aspect of our relationships with China, including claims by Jingye its investment in British Steel was losing £700,000 a day. It’s no coincidence they tried to pull the plug on Britain’s last remaining blast furnaces just days after US President Donald Trump hit them with eye-watering trade tariffs. It doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to suggest it might make sense to finish off domestic steel production – crippling our ability to produce virgin steel in Britain – then dump their own surplus steel on the UK.
And you can imagine Mr Miliband approving. After all, his entire climate strategy appears to depend on the rapid deindustrialisation of Britain, no matter how much he might talk about creating a clean energy superpower. Earlier this month, in the wake of lukewarm government support, plans for a proposed coal mine in Cumbria that could have supplied high-quality coking coal for the steel industry were withdrawn.
The knock-on effect means raw materials have to be shipped half way around the world from Australia and Japan – sending the potential costs sky-rocketing. After Mr Miliband arrived in China with “sucker” tattooed across his forehead, and a willingness to hand over another strategic asset to China, the politburo no doubt thought it was perfect timing to turn off the Scunthorpe blast furnaces for the first time since 1954. Luckily, British workers and union leaders physically intervened to stop the vandalism, which is why Keir Starmer was forced into a panicked recall of parliament at the weekend.
I cannot blame China for any of this alleged skulduggery. Like the US under Donald Trump , Chinese leader Xi Jinping is merely looking after his own people first. If Britain is stupid enough to commit itself to a net zero plan that impoverishes ourselves by making other countries richer, it’s not surprising China should take advantage of this act of self-harm.
The Asian superpower has a long memory of Western exploitation and is simply reversing the traffic in trade. It is up to Britain to put the jobs and lives of our people first by strengthening our economy. But in Mr Miliband, the Chinese have a clear ally in their strategy to exploit our crazy net zero ambitions by providing the material for wind and solar power infrastructure, producing it at a fraction of the cost thanks to their coal-powered factories and indentured labour.
Every major Chinese company is directed by the country’s Communist Party. In the wake of our British Steel humiliation, it can only be hoped the Prime Minister has woken up to China’s ruthless industrial policy. It should certainly dampen enthusiasm for inviting the Communist juggernaut onto our shores to run our most sensitive infrastructure systems.
But his waving through of plans for a Chinese mega-Embassy in central London suggests not. A good start would be to halt Ed Miliband’s cosying up to China, because his vision of a green Britain is so poor and powerless that it can only survive with Chinese investment and technical intervention. That is not an industrial plan but a capitulation.
Exporting our less than 1% carbon footprint abroad does nothing to save the world and is the greatest delusion of all. Just so that a few politicians can virtue signal about “winning” the race to net zero is a poor reason for submitting to a foreign power. It is up to sceptical trade unions , workers and realistic politicians to expose the emperor’s new clothes as Ed Miliband continues on his reckless pursuit of a green nirvana.
We cannot afford any more British Steel failures..
