Dear John,

In the week where Starmer kept the fires burning in Scunthorpe, Donald Trump turned his attention towards America’s finest universities, and Serbia continued to move closer towards the Kremlin, here is your Weekend Wire…

Starmer saves Scunthorpe Steel

When we last spoke the Prime Minister had just recalled Parliament from recess for an emergency session to push through emergency legislation to take control of the steel works in Scunthorpe. Utilising his new powers, business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds this week prevented the complete extinction of the British steel industry. 

The emergency law was deemed necessary after Chinese-owner Jingye seemed willing to switch the furnaces off, in effect ending the production of virgin steel in Britain which is crucial for rail and other infrastructure projects, and making the UK completely reliant on foreign producers (cough cough China).

Beijing has been outraged by any suggestion that Jingye was acting to undermine British industry, however Reynolds has argued that Britain must now look at ‘Chinese firm(s) in a different way’. The concerns surrounding Chinese ownership of British Steel have bled into other debates surrounding foreign ownership of national infrastructure. Various MPs have expressed alarm over Chinese involvement in other areas of critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plans. 

Despite the positivity surrounding the continuation of the Scunthorpe blast furnaces, problems remain. For years, high energy prices have made British steel production vastly more expensive and hence less competitive. Heavily-subsidised steel from China has been flooding the world market for decades and shows no signs of slowing down. The government faces a challenge to revitalise the ailing industry whilst keeping in line with its net-zero commitments. With UK steel continuing to face 25% American tariffs, Starmer and Reynolds will hope for a miracle to deliver a resurrection.

Trade trumps defence in new B4B poll

You might have spotted our latest polling in the Observer which found that when it comes to negotiations with the EU, Brits expect trade to be the government’s top priority above all other options, including improving defence and security cooperation and tackling illegal immigration across the English Channel.

However, the poll also found that while a majority (62%) understand that the government is seeking a closer relationship with the EU, only a small minority think the government’s current approach is about right (15%) with more (35%) saying they should go further in deepening ties with our closest neighbours. 

Upcoming Westminster Hall Debate - We need your help!

Andrew Lewin MP, Chair of the UK Trade and Business Commission - set up by Best for Britain - has secured a debate in Westminster Hall on the UK’s trading relationship with the EU for the 24 April at 3pm. 

With the debate taking place just weeks before Starmer hosts European leaders in the biggest step in his EU-UK reset, it is of vital importance that we make sure as many MPs as possible attend this debate. And so we need your help! 

This debate is one of the last chances your MP will get to highlight the importance of a closer trading relationship with Europe for boosting the UK economy and protecting British jobs.

Using our HeyMP tool you can email your MP in less than a minute to say you expect them to attend. Every message makes a difference.

Thank you for all of your support.

UKTBC meets again

Just weeks before the UK-EU summit, join the cross party UK Trade and Business Commission for a timely session offering key insights into the evolving UK-EU relationship as they take evidence from:

• Miguel Berger, German Ambassador to the United Kingdom
• Philip Rycroft, Former Permanent Secretary for the Department for Exiting the European Union
• Evie Aspinall, Director of the British Foreign Policy Group

When: 10:30 - 12:00 / Thursday 24th April

Where to watch: Broadcast live on the UK Trade and Business Commission’s YouTube channel. 

More pain for Ukraine

The horrific attack on Ukrainian civilians last Sunday exposed once more the brutality of Russia’s illegal war as the grief from the the city of Sumy resonated around the world. There was a hope, albeit a slight one, that this clear targeting of civilians on a Sunday morning would twist the hand of the American President and open his eyes beyond the Kremlin propaganda he appears to be consuming. 

Despite calling the attack ‘horrific’ the 47th President told reporters that “I was told they (Russia) made a mistake”. After the attack on Sumy, President Zelensky offered Trump the opportunity to see the damage for himself, to which Trump responded by blaming Zelensky for the war and for the “millions of dead” in the conflict. Current official US estimates of fatalities from the conflict stand at around 500,000.

Trump takes on Harvard

Fresh from blaming Zelensky for the war, Trump declared on some of America’s most prestigious institutions. This week it was reported that Harvard, Princeton, Cornell and others are all in line for billions in government grants to be cancelled or frozen. Add this to the fact that university students are being threatened with arrest and deportation and Vance’s proposal to raise federal taxes on large endowments from 1.4% to 35% it is clear that this US administration has higher education in its crosshairs.

But to what ends? Trump claims this is all in the interests of; protecting (some) free speech, cutting staff and banning reference to diversity - all straight out of the Project 2025 playbook to cripple what Republicans see as incubators for liberal voters. Harvard has vowed to resist. 

Serbia on the fence

Serbia’s leader has been warned his country's EU accession bid will be damaged should he attend Vladimir Putin’s military parade in Moscow’s Red Square on May 9. According to Russian media, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is scheduled to attend and contribute his country's military assets to the parade.

Conscious of Viktor Orban and his pro-Kremlin sentiments, Brussels is wary of any further moves by Vucic toward the Russian orbit, with similar concerns around Robert Fico, Slovakia’s prime minister who is also attending the parade. 

It follows long term protests in Belgrade about the conduct of Serbia’s government, with hundreds of thousands descending on the capital last month for the largest protest in Serbia’s history. Protests against corruption in the country have been raging since a bridge collapsed in November. On Tuesday this week Serbian university students arrived in Strasbourg to highlight the erosion of democratic freedoms in Serbia, the movement of Vucic away from Brussels and towards both Russia and China.

The discontent in Serbia is the latest example of a wave of protests washing over south-east Europe. From protests against Kremlin interference in Georgia, to marches against the erosion of civil liberties in Slovakia, Hungary and Turkey. In this part of the world, the choice (or lack thereof) between Moscow and Brussels is coming into sharper focus. 

Baby you’re a firework?

We can go up, up, up and shoot across the star, star, stars - So goes the (relatively) famous song by singer/astronaut/JustEat spokesperson Katy Perry. Perry joined an all female crew in Jeff Bezos’ rocket ship for 11-minutes. Perry has received backlash from other celebrities for ‘destroying the planet’.

Lauren Sánchez, fiance of Jeff Bezos, has defended the voyage saying; “I would love to have [critics] come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees that don't just work here but they put their heart and soul into this vehicle,” she said. I wonder if these amazon employees also have their toilet breaks monitored.

Cringe Column 

I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend with family and friends and eat lots of chocolate!

Joshua Edwicker

Content Officer

Best for Britain