Keir Starmer will take British Steel under government control, ordering MPs back to the Commons to vote through emergency measures on Saturday.
“The future of British Steel hangs in the balance,” the PM warned today. Both the Commons and the Lords will return for the rare Saturday sitting to debate a law aimed at securing the future of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant in North Lincolnshire. The Prime Minister said he is acting with “urgency” as “there is no time to waste” in trying to save the site, which is on the verge of collapse.
More than 3,000 jobs would be lost if the plant was shut down and would mean the UK losing its last remaining blast furnaces – needed to make “virgin” non-recycled steel. It comes after negotiations with Jingye, British Steel’s Chinese owners, fell apart.
The firm confirmed plans to close the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe immediately despite months of talks and an offer of £500 million of co-investment from the UK Government. It’s understood the bill to be put before MPs on Saturday will give Business Secretary Johnny Reynolds the power to take control of British Steel – the Scunthorpe plant itself, and also downstream mills operated by the firm.
The bill won’t take the firm into public ownership at this stage – but a change of ownership is almost certain to follow. Ministers still hope to find a commercial partner to take on the plant and guarantee its future, but nationalisation is still on the table if one can’t be found.
As well as Mr Reynolds directing staff to keep the blast furnaces operating, the government will pay for the raw materials needed to keep them lit. Jingye – which estimates the facility is losing around £700,000 a day – had failed to buy the coal needed to keep the fires lit, putting Britain’s last two blast furnaces at risk of ‘going cold.’
The Prime Minister said steel was part of our “national story, part of the pride and heritage of this nation” – and is also “essential for our future”, especially as the Government presses ahead with huge infrastructure projects to grow the economy. Speaking in Downing Street on Friday, Mr Starmer said: “As Prime Minister, I will always act in the national interest to protect British jobs and British workers.
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“This afternoon, the future of British Steel hangs in the balance. Jobs, investment, growth, our economic and national security are all on the line.”
The PM added: “While it is true that we are facing a new era of global instability, our concerns about this plant and negotiations to protect it have been running for years. This moment could have happened at any time, but it has happened now, and I will not stand by. There is no time to waste.”
MPs will return to the House of Commons from their constituencies at 11am on Saturday to debate the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill. Downing Street said the emergency legislation would give the government the power to “direct steel companies in England”. Mr Starmer insisted “all options are on the table” amid growing pressure for ministers to nationalise British Steel.
Parliament has been recalled only 34 times since 1948. The Commons does not usually sit on Saturdays and is currently on a recess break for Easter. In an indication of how seriously the Government is taking the issue, this is the first time Parliament has been recalled to sit on a Saturday since 1982, when MPs returned after the Falklands War began. The last time Parliament was recalled was when MPs returned to debate the situation in Afghanistan during the summer recess in 2021.
UK Steel director-general Gareth Stace said: “Recalling Parliament is the right decision to ensure that British Steel, the wider steel sector and thousands of steel workers and their families are given the certainty they deserve in trying times. It is welcome news that Government recognises the seriousness of the UK’s steel industry circumstances and the essential contribution our sector makes to the national economy and security, as well as the communities that rely on it.”
Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of steelworkers’ union Community, said: “It is in the national interest that a solution is found to secure a future for British Steel as a vital strategic business. We can’t allow Britain to become the only G7 country without primary steelmaking capacity.”
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