It is a jarring fact indeed that in Britain – a G7 economy and Promethean birthplace of the industrial revolution; an island still sitting on coalfields and deposits of iron ore – the routine movements of raw materials for making steel are the subject of interference, plotting and breaking news.
When the TV news networks unleash the helicopters, as they have at the British Steel works in Scunthorpe and the docks in Immingham, tracking the movements of raw materials is a sign that a major national story is unfolding. It is no exaggeration to say that the urgency and 24/7 rolling coverage are comparable to a royal funeral.
