UPDATE: |Why today’s British Steel emergency law debate in Parliament is so important News

‘The future of British Steel hangs in the balance’

Unions have described the potential closure of British Steel’s plant in Scunthorpe – which employs almost 3,000 people – as ‘devastating’ for workers and their families.

Commentators say the move may also put the country at risk. A closure would mean Britain becoming the only G7 country without primary steelmaking capability.

The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill – due to be debated in Parliament on a rare Saturday sitting today – stops short of full nationalisation, but a later change of ownership is seen by ministers as the likely future outcome, it is understood.

If emergency legislation is passed on Saturday, British Steel will be taken under Government control to keep the blast furnaces at the company’s Scunthorpe plant running in a move that paves the way for nationalisation.

The Commons sitting will begin at 11am and the House of Lords from midday, in the first parliamentary recall on a Saturday since 1982, when MPs returned after the start of the Falklands War.

Other significant recalls during recent years included a midweek sitting during the summer recess in August 2021 to debate the evacuation from Afghanistan. The House of Commons has been recalled 34 times since 1948.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said Parliament would be recalled to vote on the Bill, which is aimed at blocking the firm’s Chinese owners, Jingye, from closing the Lincolnshire site.

MPs and peers will debate the legislation as part of plans that would see taxpayer money used to provide materials to the steelworks, after the PM warned the future of the company ‘hangs in the balance’. The legislation will give the Government “the power to direct steel companies in England, which we will use to protect the Scunthorpe site”, Downing Street said.

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Ministers hope to secure a private partner to open up co-investment options for a transition, but urgent temporary action was seen as necessary to keep the plant running until longer-term plans are agreed.

Speaking from Downing Street on Friday, Sir Keir said: “As Prime Minister, I will always act in the national interest to protect British jobs and British workers. This afternoon, the future of British Steel hangs in the balance.

“Jobs, investment, growth, our economic and national security are all on the line.”

He said that while the UK is facing a “new era of global instability”, concerns about the plant and talks to protect it have been going on “for years”.

“This moment could have happened at any time, but it has happened now, and I will not stand by. There is no time to waste,” he said.

“So we are recalling Parliament tomorrow for a Saturday sitting. We will pass emergency legislation in one day to give the Business Secretary the powers to do everything possible to stop the closure of these blast furnaces. And as I have said, we will keep all options on the table.”

Jingye, which bought British Steel in 2020, has said it invested more than £1.2 billion to maintain operations amid ongoing production instability and “significant” financial losses of around £700,000 a day. The Government says the new law would allow it to order raw materials for Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces amid fears supplies are on the brink of running out.

Ministers would be able to direct the company’s board and workforce, and ensure anyone at the plant “who takes steps to keep it running, against the orders of the Chinese ownership” can be reinstated if they are sacked.

The proposals to close Scunthorpe’s furnaces had sparked fears of job losses at the plant.

Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, said Jingye had confirmed the plans despite months of talks and a £500 million co-investment offer from Government, leaving ministers “no choice” but to act. He said in a statement: “We are doing what previous governments have failed to, acting in the national interest to help secure UK steelmaking for the future.

“We negotiated with British Steel’s owners in good faith ever since coming to office. We made a generous offer of support to the company and I am deeply disappointed that we have been forced to take these measures, but Jingye have not been forthright throughout this process, and left us no choice but to act.

Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of steelworkers’ union Community, said finding a solution to secure British Steel’s future was in the “national interest,” describing the company as a “vital strategic business.” “We can’t allow Britain to become the only G7 country without primary steelmaking capacity,” he said.

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.”