Nationalising British Steel is the 'only option left', leading Yorkshire industrialist says

He said nationalisation should always be seen as a last resort, but that it was now the “only option left”.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer said “all options are on the table” when asked about the plant during a meeting of the Liason Committee yesterday.

The fledgling Steel Council also met yesterday, with Industry Minister Sarah Jones speaking to the chief executives of Tata, Liberty and British Steel as well as trade union leaders and the trade association UK Steel.

She sought to reassure the industry as the first payments from an energy cost relief scheme for the industry are due to be paid next month.

The Network Charging Compensation scheme payments are expected to give businesses more than £15m of relief in May and more than £300m during 2025.

In a statement yesterday, Sir Andrew said: “Nationalisation is the last resort but it’s the only option left when a core strategic industry like steel is under threat. The alternative is to rely on Chinese steel, which fails to support the UK economy and the remaining skilled jobs in our regions.

“There is a useful precedent with the nationalisation of manufacturer Sheffield Forgemasters in 2021. If anything, British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant with its two blast furnaces is of at least as great strategic importance to our sovereign capabilities.

“Latest industry figures (From UK Steel) show one third of the steel the UK government procures is imported, costing UK taxpayers £1.5bn annually rather than supporting UK steelmaking."