It was Margaret Thatcher who famously said that in politics, the unexpected always happens.
And the latest evidence for that is a series of bizarre twists in the political fallout over Scunthorpe steelworks and China.
First, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has unexpectedly performed a shock U-turn on Chinese involvement in steel.
And second, those sworn Brexit enemies the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK have agreed on one thing: they want nothing to do with China.
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So is Mr Reynolds’ U-turn the result of being nobbled by Number 10? It certainly looks like it, given what appeared to be a Downing Street slap-down on Monday.
On Sunday, he told Sir Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “I wouldn’t personally bring a Chinese company into our steel sector.”
Pressed by Sir Trevor, he said: “I wouldn’t, no. I think steel is a very sensitive area.”
He even accused David Cameron – who famously took the Chinese president for a pint in a pub – and George Osborne of being “far too naive” about China.
And when Sir Trevor said: “There’s a high trust bar now, isn’t there?” Mr Reynolds replied: “Yes, we’ve got to recognise that.”
Two days later, pressed on his Sky News interview during a visit to Immingham docks, he said: “In this case, our difference of opinion on the future was with a specific company.
“I know there’s a lot of interest in the wider UK-China relationship, understandably so. But this was about this company.”
And he added: “I’m really keen to stress the action we’ve taken here was to step in because it was one specific company…”
So that’s clear then? Or is it? What’s changed?
What changed is that on Monday, Number 10 insisted there was no block on China from essential industries, even steel.
The prime minister’s spokesman said: “We already a have a rigorous regime for assessing any involvement in critical infrastructure. That includes looking at the role of China…
