UK government recalls Parliament for emergency legislation over saving British Steel
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government on Friday called an emergency weekend session of Parliament to pass legislation aimed at saving the country’s last factory that makes steel from raw materials, a move that has been widely called for since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imported steel.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said in a statement that lawmakers are being asked to return Saturday from their Easter break to debate legislation that will effectively see British Steel and its plant in the north of England town of Scunthorpe taken back into public ownership, in the near-term at least.
“The bill provides the government with the power to direct steel companies in England, which we will use to protect the Scunthorpe site,” it said. “It enables the U.K. government to preserve capability and ensure public safety.”
Though the term “nationalization” was not used, it’s clear that Starmer’s center-left government will take over the day-to-day running of British Steel from Jingye Group, the company’s Chinese owner since 2020. Jingye has said the Scunthorpe plant is financially unsustainable due to “challenging market conditions,” tariffs and increased environmental costs.
Trump’s decision last month to slap a 25% tariff on all imported steel and aluminum has weighed on the prospects of British Steel. Though Starmer voiced disappointment at the tariffs imposed, he has not retaliated and is seeking to negotiate the tariffs away.
The steel works, which employs around 2,700 workers directly, may soon run out of the iron pellets used in two massive blast furnaces following Jingye’s decision to cancel orders for these essential raw materials.
Unions have called for a rescue.
“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 G-7 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 amid the threat of global warming. 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.
It is the first time lawmakers have been recalled from their recess to sit on a Saturday since 1982 in the aftermath of Argentina’s invasion of the British-run Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic.