Member

The question must surely be: how small a part of the UK will do to satisfy that criterion? The closure of one steel-related facility will have an obvious economic impact on the town or immediate area in which it is located. Is that sufficient to meet the paragraph (c) criterion and justify the Secretary of State deciding to nationalise the whole undertaking? The wording would appear to allow that, and would mean that any decision to close a steel plant or any other facility relating to the manufacture of steel could render the company that owns that facility liable to nationalisation. We need to ask: is that what the Government intend and, if so, what are the likely consequences for industrial investment in this country? If that is not what the Government intend—it may well not be—surely the language should be tightened.