Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Government takes control of British Steel under emergency law

The plant, owned by Chinese company Jingye, was facing imminent shutdown. Prime minister Keir Starmer said the government "stepped in to save British Steel" to prevent its blast furnaces from going out.

british-steel-iStock
An aerial view of Steel Plant Industry in Scunthorpe. (Photo: iStock)

THE UK government has taken control of British Steel after passing emergency legislation to stop the closure of the country’s last factory capable of producing steel from raw materials.

The plant, owned by Chinese company Jingye, was facing imminent shutdown. Prime minister Keir Starmer said the government "stepped in to save British Steel" to prevent its blast furnaces from going out.


Parliament met on Saturday in a rare weekend session and passed the law without opposition.

The measure allows the government to take over the Scunthorpe site, which employs several thousand people and produces steel used in construction and rail transport.

The government considered the possible closure a threat to Britain’s long-term economic security, following a steady decline in the domestic steel industry.

Officials were prepared to take over the site on Saturday evening after the emergency bill became law, UK media reported.

Following the law’s approval, Starmer said the government was "turning the page on a decade of decline" and "acting to protect the jobs of thousands of workers." He added, "all options are on the table to secure the future of the industry," after a minister said nationalisation could be a likely next step.

Earlier in the day, Starmer travelled to the region and told steelworkers gathered in a village hall near the site that the move was "in the national interest". He called the action "pretty unprecedented" and said it would help secure "a future for steel" in the UK.

"The most important thing is we've got control of the site, we can make the decisions about what happens, and that means that those blast furnaces will stay on," he said.

The decision followed protests at the site and reports that workers blocked executives from Chinese owners Jingye from entering key parts of the plant on Saturday morning.

Delegation turned away

The Times reported that British Steel workers prevented a "delegation of Chinese executives" from accessing critical parts of the plant. Police confirmed that officers were present "following a suspected breach of the peace," but no arrests were made.

Nationalisation remains possible

When asked in parliament whether the company would be nationalised, business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that while Saturday’s law did not transfer ownership, state ownership "remains on the table" and may be the "likely option".

He clarified that the legislation gives the government limited powers for now, and any transfer of ownership would need to be dealt with later.

Reynolds said no private company had come forward to invest in the plant. Jingye, which bought British Steel in 2020, has said it is not financially viable to continue running the two blast furnaces, putting up to 2,700 jobs at risk.

The company says it has invested more than £1.2 billion in operations but is losing around £700,000 a day.

Reynolds said "the effective market value of this company is zero," and that Jingye had suggested continuing operations in the UK by supplying slab steel from China.

The government has faced criticism from the opposition Conservative Party over how it handled the talks. Some left-wing politicians and unions have also pushed for full nationalisation.

Reynolds said the government had offered to buy raw materials to keep operations going, without any financial loss to Jingye, but the company refused.

He said Jingye demanded that the UK "transfer hundreds of millions of pounds to them, without any conditions to stop that money and potentially other assets being immediately transferred to China". Jingye also rejected a condition to maintain the blast furnaces.

The new law gives the government power to take control of assets and enforce compliance with orders to keep the blast furnaces running, including the possibility of criminal sanctions.

Emergency session and industry pressures

An aerial view of the British Steel Scunthorpe site on September 13, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)

An aerial view of the British Steel Scunthorpe site on September 13, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)An aerial view of the British Steel Scunthorpe site on September 13, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)

Saturday’s session of parliament was the first held on a weekend since the Falklands War in 1982. MPs had left for Easter recess on Tuesday and were not due back until April 22.

The Scunthorpe site is now the UK’s last virgin steel plant — one that uses raw materials instead of recycled steel — after Tata’s Port Talbot plant closed its blast furnace last year.

British Steel has partly blamed its problems on tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump. The company, along with others in Europe, has also been under pressure from cheaper steel imports from Asia.

British Steel traces its origins back to the Industrial Revolution and was officially formed in 1967 when the Labour government nationalised the steel industry, which then employed nearly 270,000 people.

(With inputs from AFP)

More For You

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Bond yields ease following Starmer’s support for Reeves

THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty
Modi shakes hands with Trump before a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Indian exporters watch closely as Trump says trade deal with India likely

THE US could reach a trade deal with India that would help American companies compete more easily in the Indian market and reduce tariff rates, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. However, he cast doubt on a similar deal with Japan.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he believed India was ready to lower trade barriers, potentially paving the way for an agreement that would avoid the 26 per cent tariff rate he had announced on April 2 and paused until July 9.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

Customers shop for 'Kolhapuri' sandals, an Indian ethnic footwear, at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

INDIAN footwear sellers and artisans are tapping into nationalist pride stoked by the Prada 'sandal scandal' in a bid to boost sales of ethnic slippers with history dating back to the 12th century, raising hopes of reviving a struggling craft.

Sales are surging over the past week for the 'Kolhapuri' sandals that have garnered global attention after Prada sparked a controversy by showcasing similar designs in Milan, without initially crediting the footwear's origins.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Economy grew 0.7 per cent in Q1 2025, fastest in a year

THE UK economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year during the first quarter of 2025, driven by a rise in home purchases ahead of a tax deadline and higher manufacturing output before the introduction of new US import tariffs.

Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 per cent in the January-to-March period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, confirming its earlier estimate. This was the strongest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less