British Steel could be renationalised under plans reportedly being considered by the Government amid uncertainty about the company’s future.
Ministers have been locked in talks with the company’s Chinese owners, Jingye, over a potential rescue plan for its Scunthorpe plant.
British Steel announced it would close its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe last year, replacing them with a less polluting electric arc furnace if it received “appropriate support” from the Government.
But reports in The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph suggested Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was now considering a range of options including taking the company back into public ownership for the first time since 1988.
A Government source told The Guardian that renationalisation was “the least attractive option” due to its significant cost, but said it would be “negligent not to look at it”.
Trade unions, however, were more supportive of the prospect of renationalisation.
Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, national officer for the GMB union, said: “Recent history has shown we must retain control over crucial industries like steel.
“Leaving domestic production to the whims of the open market is sheer folly. Rather than forking out billions of taxpayer cash to reward private sector failure, the money should be used to renationalise our once proud steel sector.”
Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, argued that steel should be designated as “critical infrastructure” and accused previous governments of “selling the family silver” by privatising companies such as British Steel.
She said: “It is not radical to build a programme where we own our own critical infrastructure – including industries like energy and water.”
Before the election, Labour pledged to make the UK a “world leader in clean, green steel”, and Sir Keir Starmer described the industry as part of “the fabric of our society” in places including Scunthorpe.
In Government, Labour announced a £500 million package to support Tata’s steelworks in Port Talbot make the transition to low-carbon steel production, but the closure of blast furnaces at the plant still brought the loss of almost 2,000 jobs.
About 4,000 people work at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, which is now the only facility making primary steel in the UK.
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said the Government had “no plans to nationalise British Steel”, but did not deny that it was an option under consideration.
They said: “We’re working across Government in partnership with trade unions and businesses to secure a green steel transition that’s right for the workforce, represents a good investment for taxpayers and safeguards the future of the steel industry in Britain.”
