By YP Comment

Published 22nd Feb 2023, 17:00 BST

Updated 22nd Feb 2023, 17:00 BST

First and foremost, we must spare a thought for the workers whose jobs are at risk. These are the people that matter right now, as they face uncertainty about how they will feed their families.

The steel sector has been crucial to this country’s industrial success and it will continue to be important into the future. Even in a world that is transitioning to net zero.

Steel has been the bedrock of communities like Scunthorpe and decisions like this have a negative impact on the people living there.

The entrance to the steelworks plant in Scunthorpe as British Steel is planning to close the coke ovens at one of its plants, with the loss of up to 260 jobs, the company announced. PIC: PA

Firms such as British Steel should be encouraged to invest in new technologies to ensure jobs are kept in the region.

And while there is an obvious need for them to drive profitability, large firms also need to consider how decisions that lead to hundreds of job losses hurt the places that they operate in.

Questions also need to be asked about the sale of British Steel to the Chinese-owned conglomerate Jingye.

At the time of the sale in March 2020, the British Government said 3,200 high-skilled jobs had been “safeguarded by the completion of a deal to sell British Steel to leading Chinese steelmaker Jingye Group”.

The world has changed since, with the company saying its bills for energy and carbon increased by £190m last year. But by closing the coking ovens, it will leave British Steel depending on imported coke. This could create uncertainty around our capability to produce steel for UK infrastructure projects. The war in Ukraine has shown the risk of leaving the country dependent on importing.

British Steel job cuts raise wider questions around infrastructure security - The Yorkshire Post says