Saving British Steel

This Government will not give up on British Steel.

British Steel has built 90% of our rail network and much of the UK’s infrastructure. With the Scunthorpe blast furnaces under threat, Parliament was recalled on a Saturday for the first time since the Falklands War to pass emergency legislation to bring the company under government control.

These blast furnaces are the last of their kind in the UK. If they were to close, we would become the only G20 country unable to produce steel from scratch.

The new law gives the Government powers to intervene directly, securing raw materials and protecting jobs. Officials were already on-site in Scunthorpe as the legislation passed, working with steelworkers to keep production running.

The long-term future of steelmaking in the UK lies in clean power. This Government has already committed £2.5 billion to the transition to electric arc furnaces — a move towards cleaner, greener steel production.

Thanks to fast government action, British Steel has a fighting chance. Read more on this topic in my column.