Jonathan Reynolds says allowing British Steel to collapse would have cost £1bn as public ownership looks increasingly likely
Jasper Jolly, a financial reporter at the Guardian, has written some analysis on the multiple crises British Steel faces as the supplies needed to keep the blast furnaces operating at the Scunthorpe plant are running low. Here is an extract from his piece:
Union leaders representing steelworkers said they were relieved that the government appeared to be moving towards public ownership. Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, a former Scunthorpe steelworker and national officer for the GMB union, said nationalisation was “the only way to save the UK steel industry”, and that the ability to direct the company’s actions was “the first step in that process”.
Yet even nationalisation will not deliver Scunthorpe’s workers from the bigger questions over its long-term future. Jingye had rejected a £500m offer of support to switch to electric arc furnaces – to match aid given to Tata Steel at Port Talbot, south Wales – but Scunthorpe will need to make the switch if it is to have a future in a world of net zero carbon emissions.
The Green party says it supports nationalisation of the steel industry as it could prove to be a “key driver of a green industrial revolution”. The party’s co-leader, Adrian Ramsay, told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips this morning: “Steel is essential for the transition to a green economy. The Greens have been arguing for decades that we need to have the ability to produce more of the manufactured goods… within our country. And with what we’re seeing now with the international political climate and the bullying behaviour of President Trump, it only underlines our point that we need to be able to produce these things more locally.”
Plaid Cymru has accused the UK government for acting to save the Scunthorpe plant but not taking the same action when the Tata Steel works in Port Talbot were threatened with closure. Tata ended primary steelmaking at Port Talbot last September with the closure of its last blast furnace, a decision that was projected to lead to 2,500 job losses. As part of a deal the government committed £500m to help the company move to greener forms of steelmaking. Addressing the Commons at the emergency session yesterday, Liz Saville-Roberts, Plaid’s Westminster leader, said yesterday: “Scunthorpe gets security, Port Talbot gets a pittance.”
The Lib Dems’ deputy leader Daisy Cooper said recalling parliament yesterday was “absolutely the right thing to do” but the party has also criticised the UK government for not intervening to protect the Port Talbot steelworks in the same way.
The SNP’s Stephen Flynn questioned why the legislation only applies to England. He said yesterday: “Why is this not being extended to Scotland? Why is Grangemouth (refinery in Scotland) not being included? Why is the smelter up at Lochaber not being included? Why the DL steelworks not being included? The answer why they are not being included is because westminster is only interested in westminster.”
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/apr/13/british-steel-emergency-law-passed-business-secretary-speaks-labour-conservatives-uk-politics-latest-updates-news
Author : Yohannes Lowe
Publish date : 2025-04-13 13:55:00
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