The steel crisis might seem distant with people in Scunthorpe and North Lincolnshire most at risk from unemployment, but its consequences hit close to home - including here in Surrey and Hampshire.

This isn’t just about one plant in Scunthorpe. It’s a test of whether Britain is serious about protecting the foundations of its economy, and whether this Labour government is up to the task.

On Saturday, Parliament was recalled for an emergency session to save the UK’s last primary steelmaking site. I had hoped to speak, but time ran out. Still, the facts are plain.

The closure of Scunthorpe would leave the UK as the only G7 country unable to produce primary steel, the kind used to build everything from railways to warships. That’s not just an industrial issue. It’s a national security failure.

Yet this crisis was foreseeable and avoidable. British Steel had a credible modernisation plan using electric arc furnaces - a cleaner, proven technology backed by industry experts.

Teesside was ready. But Labour ministers, under union pressure, pushed for a Scunthorpe-only deal that the company judged unviable. The result? A walkout by British Steel’s Chinese owners and a desperate scramble to fix a problem of Labour’s own making

Let’s not forget, this didn’t come out of the blue. Parliament sat for several days last week with no substantive business. The government had ample time to bring this forward. Instead, they delayed and then forced through a major Bill on a Saturday with barely any scrutiny.

That Bill gives Ministers sweeping powers with no time limits or clear safeguards. This is not how a confident or competent government behaves. It is the kind of legislative overreach we rightly criticise in less democratic countries, such as China.

And speaking of China; British Steel’s owner, the state-linked Jingye Group, rejected a £500 million rescue offer without any guarantees on jobs or production.

This isn’t just tough negotiation. It shows what happens when vital national assets are controlled by foreign companies aligned to regimes that don’t share our interests.

Locally, this is not a remote issue. Bordon’s military past, the training grounds at Woolmer, Tilford and Rushmoor, and Aldershot’s role as the home of the British Army all show how deeply defence is woven into our area. You can’t sustain defence infrastructure without steel.

Labour ignored the warnings, made the wrong calls, and now taxpayers are footing the bill. This didn’t need to happen.

If Britain wants to remain a serious industrial nation, we must learn from this failure and rebuild a strategy based on strength, security and economic self-reliance.