The facts
Analysis by the lobbying group UK Steel shows British steelmakers now pay almost £30 per megawatt hour more for electricity than French competitors – the widest gap in three years. The premium rose from £18/MWh last year after global gas prices surged following Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts say the UK’s reliance on gas to set wholesale electricity prices pushes costs up even when wind or solar generation is cheaper. France’s electricity price is largely set by nuclear power, while Germany still leans on coal. About 75% of UK steel exports – roughly £3 billion – go to the EU. UK Steel director‑general Peter Brennan argues direct subsidies are the only realistic remedy and proposes a price‑cap scheme costing about £51 million a year.
Our take
The British steel sector is getting absolutely skull‑fucked by its own electricity bills, and the reason is so stupid it makes you want to head‑butt a blast furnace. According to UK Steel’s own lobbyists, we’re now paying nearly thirty quid more per megawatt hour than our French rivals – the biggest premium in three years, a gold medal in the Special Olympics of national energy policy. Why? Because our power market is a dickhead slave to gas prices, even when the wind is blowing and the sun is out. We’re basically paying caviar prices for a Tesco Meal Deal because the system is run by cowards who treat a gas bill like a fucking fetish object. Meanwhile, France chills with cheap nuclear, Germany burns coal like it’s 1952, and both are laughing their continental asses off at us. The real piss‑take? About 75% of our steel – worth £3 billion – heads to the EU, yet we’re paying a self‑inflicted tax that makes our products less competitive in our main market. Peter Brennan says the only solution is direct subsidies – a price‑cap costing £51 million a year – essentially asking taxpayers to bail out an industry being bankrupted by the market. A government spokesperson touts existing measures to cut electricity bills, but those promises work about as well as a chocolate fireguard. The whole situation is a masterclass in how a nation can be run by absolute cunts who think ‘energy strategy’ means lighting a fiver on fire and hoping for the best. We’re not just uncompetitive; we’re paying extra for the privilege of being losers. What a shower of bastards.
