U.K. lawmakers are returning to Parliament from their Easter break to approve an emergency rescue of the country’s last remaining factory that makes steel directly from raw materials
UK Parliament meets in emergency Saturday session to approve rescue of British SteelBy PAN PYLASAssociated PressThe Associated PressLONDON
LONDON (AP) — U.K. lawmakers returned to Parliament from their Easter break on Saturday to approve an emergency rescue of the country’s last remaining factory that makes steel directly from raw materials.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer summoned lawmakers for the highly unusual Saturday sitting to debate a bill aimed at blocking British Steel’s Chinese owners, Jingye Group, from closing blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant in the north of England.
If the bill passes, which is expected, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will have the power to direct the company’s board and workforce, ensure workers get paid and order the raw materials necessary to keep the plant’s two massive blast furnaces running.
Starmer said Friday that the future of the plant “hangs in the balance,” necessitating the need for the quick-fire legislation and the recall of Parliament.
Though Starmer did not use not use the term “nationalization,” he did say all options remain on the table for the steel works, which employs around 2,700 workers directly.
The decision to introduce the emergency legislation was given added urgency by the recent move by Jingye to cancel orders for the iron pellets used in the blast furnaces. Without the pellets and other raw materials, they would likely have to shut for good, potentially within days.
It’s unclear what role Jingye, owner of British Steel since 2020, will have in the day-to-day running of the steelworks once the legislation passes.
Jingye, which has said the Scunthorpe plant is financially unsustainable due to “challenging market conditions” and increased environmental costs, has for months sought a government rescue but discussions have failed to reach a successful outcome. Last month’s decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a 25% tariffs on imported steel was another blow.
Though Starmer has expressed disappointment, he has not retaliated and is seeking to negotiate the tariffs away.
Unions have welcomed his initiative to call back Parliament and voiced hope that it will eventually lead to the government taking ownership of the plant.
“It is in the national interest that a solution is found to secure a future for British Steel as a vital strategic business,” said Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the union Community. “We can’t allow Britain to become the only G7 country without primary steelmaking capacity.”
At its height in the postwar period, British steelmaking was a global leader, employing more than 300,000 people, before cheaper offerings from China and other countries hit production. It now employs about 40,000 directly, with the industry accounting for just 0.1% of the British economy.
Britain’s remaining steelmakers are under pressure to reduce carbon emissions. Most have shifted to electric arc furnaces that make steel from recycled material. That has left Scunthorpe as the only factory with blast furnaces capable of turning iron ore into virgin steel.
The steel industry is “part of our national story,” Starmer said.
The last time lawmakers have been called back from their recess to sit on a Saturday was in 1982, in the aftermath of Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic.
