Alasdair McDiarmid – Community Trade Union

Steel Reforged – Assistant General Secretary Blog

Alasdair McDiarmid — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 14:27:43 +0000

In a new blog, Our Assistant General Secretary Alasdair McDiarmid outlines the importance of our Steel Reforged report. “In July 2020, Community launched the ‘Britain, We Need Our Steel’ campaign. Five years on, the principle at the heart of that campaign remains just as prescient: that Britain’s economic future, defence capabilities and environmental ambitions are […]

The future of steel

Alasdair McDiarmid — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 11:00:36 +0000

The international race to green the steel industry is on, but while many European states are championing the necessary transition, the UK is trailing behind. While the UK government pledged £250 million as part of the Clean Steel Fund ahead of the 2019 general election, funding has yet to be distributed years later, despite our repeated calls on the government to act. The clock is ticking…

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Community is proud to support the UK Steel Charter

Alasdair McDiarmid — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 11:33:49 +0000

Community, steel companies and consumers, and politicians of all stripes, recently gathered in Parliament to relaunch the UK Steel Charter. At the event I was proud to pledge Community’s full support for this important initiative promoting the benefits of buying Britain’s steel. At Community we firmly believe that Britain’s steel is the best in the world. Moreover in buying Britain’s steel…

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Scotland’s wind auction must deliver for workers

Alasdair McDiarmid — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 15:15:09 +0000

There’s no doubt that Scottish wind presents an enormous opportunity to create and secure thousands of jobs, but only if the mistakes of the past are not repeated. For decades the story of Scotland’s renewables sector has been one of missed opportunity and political failure. Responsibility for this is shared between Holyrood and Westminster, but together government has failed to make big…

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Why the steel industry needs support today

Alasdair McDiarmid — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 14:05:17 +0000

The struggles the UK steel industry faces today are not known by everyone, but they are comprehensive. In recent history, the steel industry has been impacted by the dumping of cheap steel from foreign countries, and more recently as a result of our leaving the European Union and the coronavirus crisis. Some of the major challenges the sector continues to face are a result of government failure to…

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The case for intervention at Liberty Steel

Alasdair McDiarmid — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:59:06 +0000

For those that understand our steel industry, it is hard to read articles like Oliver Shah’s “Too big to fail? No – Gupta’s steel empire may be too complex to save”, which suggests that government should sit on its hands and leave the fate of Liberty Steel to the market. Community couldn’t disagree more, as this view fails to appreciate the strategic importance of the steel industry to our economy…

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Why we’re supporting the European Steel Action Day

Alasdair McDiarmid — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 10:54:43 +0000

Europe’s steel industry employs hundreds of thousands of skilled steelworkers and provides the essential foundation for the continent’s manufacturing sector. There’s no doubt the industry is facing huge challenges, with COVID-19 decimating order books and China’s state-subsidised overcapacity depressing prices, but Europe needs its steel industry as much now as ever. Over the coming months and…

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