Iconic Yorkshire steelmaker is 'beacon of hope' amid industry crisis, union says

Delegates at the GMB Union’s conference in Blackpool passed a motion calling for an investigation “into how UK steel has ended up at crisis point”.

The union represents workers at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, where the blast furnaces were on the verge of being switched off until the Government stepped in and took control last summer.

If they had gone offline then they would have become almost impossible to restart, leaving the UK as the only G7 country unable to produce virgin steel.

Sir Keir Starmer recently announced that he would nationalise British Steel, however the Government’s wider steel strategy, which includes strict quotas and tariffs, has come under criticism from smaller manufacturers.

Speaking at the GMB conference, Ian Kemp, a steelworker in Rotherham, said: “We need to look at the deeper issues affecting the industry.

“We need, for example, to look at the owners. In the last 40 years we’ve had an eclectic bunch of owners at the successor companies to the British Steel Corporation.

“Some have been quite good. Some not so good, but at least honest. Then there’s been the cowboys, charlatans and crooks. That’s privatisation for you. You never know what you’re going to get.

“Government policies need examining. Not just those specific to the steel industry. But, things like energy and transport policies.

“Look at the high cost of bills paid to our foreign owned energy firms that subsidise the bills of our competitors.

“Steel is an ideal commodity to be transported by rail. One of the mills where I work was even set up to be able to use canals.

“And yet, most steel is transported by road. Hardly the most efficient, cost effective or greenest option. Amongst the gloom, however, there is one beacon of hope.

“Sheffield Forgemasters. They’re thriving. And the only difference between them and the others, and make of it what you will, is, they’ve been nationalised. Save our steel.”

The iconic firm, near Meadowhall, traces its history back to a blacksmith forge in the 1750s. It is one of Britain’s oldest companies, becoming a fully commercial enterprise in 1805.

It had been struggling for years as the British steel industry was being undercut by competitors in countries such as China and India, and in 2021, the government nationalised it in a £2.6m deal to secure the supply of parts that are vital for the Royal Navy.

John Healey also recently announced a deal for Forgemasters to produce components for nuclear-powered submarines for the British and Australian navies.

However, the Conservatives claimed that investors will turn their backs on the industry, if further parts are nationalised.

Earlier today, Dame Harriett Baldwin urged MPs not to give the Government “extremely wide” powers, as part of the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill.

If it is approved, the Bill would give ministers the power to transfer steel businesses’ shares or property into public ownership.

Industry minister Chris McDonald described the ability to nationalise parts of the sector as “a useful tool, though not one to be used lightly”.