A defence superpower as well as a clean energy superpower? The UK may be forced to choose

Defence spending inevitably involves investing in heavy stuff that explodes, uses chemicals or is made in carbon-intensive ways

- Nils Pratley

The UK will become a "defence industrial superpower", said the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in Wednesday's spring statement, an ambition that will involve using much more steel, one assumes.

Now comes news that the Chinese owner of the UK's second largest steel plant may close its two blast furnaces as early as June, which would further erode the UK's already-thin steelmaking capabilities. Indeed, closure of Scunthorpe would also mean an end to domestic steel-making from scratch using traditional carbon-intensive blast furnaces - the other two, at Tata's Port Talbot site, closed last year.

To make the timing worse, the crisis at Scunthorpe has arrived while the government is still pondering its strategy for steel.

A consultation, including an expert review of alternative technologies to make primary steel, closes next Monday. "The central mission of this government is growth. Steel can, and will, have an enormous role to play in driving that growth," wrote Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, in his introduction. Fine, but what are you going to do about Scunthorpe?

There are probably three broad options. None will look attractive.