Unite, the UK’s leading union, has given a cautious welcome to the government announcement that four critical sectors (steel, shipbuilding, AI and energy infrastructure) will be designated as 'critical for national security'.
Prioritise UK business
The designation means that government departments will be expected to prioritise UK businesses when procuring from these sectors.
The announcement on steel also includes rules on government departments purchasing British produced steel or providing a justification why this has not been feasible.
Unite has long campaigned for the UK steel industry to be designated as critical national infrastructure in a similar way to the US. This requires the government to define 'national security' in a way that includes both national defence and critical infrastructure and then apply security exceptions under international trade deals.
The next step is to go beyond guidance and legislate to ensure that government backed contracts always buy British.
Important step forward
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'This is an important step forward and should help to ensure that more government spending is being used to back workers and their communities in key sectors of the UK economy.
'Unite has long campaigned for a 'buy British rule' which should define the UK’s steel industry as critical national infrastructure, and this announcement shows the government has been listening.
'The devil will be in the detail but Unite will keep pushing for stronger measures to ensure that more government spending is being used to back jobs in the UK.'
Source: Unite
