Risk of letting China take over UK critical infrastructure

David Cameron and his chancellor George Osborne were the ones who set this country on the path of maximum partnership with China. They thought it would lead to a huge boost to the economy and lay the foundations for a successful and beneficial business alliance. It was all high-vision stuff, but no one at the time really thought through the dangers of allowing Beijing to take a control of parts of the UK's criticial infrastructure. Now, here we are, with a Chinese company trying to shut down the Scunthorpe steel works because it's losing £700,000 a day. So much for Chinese business acumen, but, far more seriously, the country's steel-manufacturing business was set to be cast onto the scrapheap by the Chinese until the government of Sir Keir Starmer stepped in and as good as renationalised the Scunthorpe works. What a farce. Of course the jobs have to be saved and this vital industry has to survive. The UK makes very few things these days. Let's hang on to our specialisesd steelmaking. But the truth is, having handed over this plant to a Chinese company, successive governments left all the decision-making to a foreign power and when the money ran out all they wanted to do was close it down, never mind the social and human repercussions. So the government had no choice but to spend the money and keep the plant alive. When the Chinese come calling to buy up other parts of the UK's critical infrastructure, the answer should be "Bu xiexie". No thank you.