British Steel: Hopes grow of renationalisation as Parliament recalled
Parliament is being recalled amid growing hopes that beleaguered British Steel will be bought back into public ownership.
MPs left for their Easter break on Tuesday but will now sit from 11am on Saturday, followed by the House of Lords from 12 noon to debate the future of the Scunthorpe steelworks.
Fears for the future of its 2,700 workers were raised last month after Chinese owners Jingye, which promised a “new chapter” in UK steelmaking when it rescued British Steel in 2020, said its two blast furnaces were no longer financially sustainable.
The government has come under increasing pressure, with the clock ticking on the first option under consultation, which would see the furnaces, steelmaking operations and Scunthorpe Rod Mill shut by early June.
Reports in recent days suggested the owners were preparing to idle one of the furnaces as soon as next week. The last time Parliament was recalled on a Saturday was in 1982 after the Falklands War began, underlining the sense of urgency felt by the government.
No10 said MPs would discuss the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill, giving the government the power to “to direct steel companies in England” allowing it to “protect” the steelworks and ensure the furnaces can continue to function.
No10 added: “The Prime Minister has been clear, his government will always act in the national interest. All actions we take are in the name of British industry, British jobs and for British workers.”
Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB union national officer, said: “GMB has long called for nationalisation as the only way to save the UK steel industry. Tomorrow looks like the first step in that process. The Business Secretary must be given huge praise for acting decisively to safeguard this vital industry and the thousands of jobs that rely on it.”
Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of steelworkers’ union Community, said: “We welcome this decision to recall Parliament. 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. In the absence of a deal with Jingye to continue blast furnace operations at Scunthorpe as part of a transition to greener steelmaking, it is essential that we see urgent action taken to bring British Steel into public ownership.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the situation was “desperate”: “China has no interest in keeping the steelworks open. Reform have been clear from the start that the only option we have to save this vital strategic asset, and thousands of jobs in the process, is to nationalise British Steel.” Community believes that while lower-emission electric arc furnaces (EAFs) – which make steel by melting steel scrap – have their part to play, blast furnaces are needed for primary steel-making.
If they shut and are replaced by EAFs, Network Rail “would have to get rail from somewhere else”. Major producers like Germany and France, employ both technologies.
It comes as steelworkers and football fans come together in a show of support on Saturday with workers marching to the Iron's home game against Spennymoor Town.