Parliament will be recalled on Saturday to debate emergency legislation on the nationalisation of British Steel, as ministers race to avoid the company’s collapse and the loss of 3,500 jobs.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, House of Commons speaker, announced on Friday he had granted a request for a recall of MPs on Saturday “to take forward legislative proposals to ensure the continued operation of British Steel blast furnaces is safeguarded”.
Talks have been going on all week between ministers and Jingye Group, the Chinese owner of British Steel. MPs will meet at 11am in a highly unusual Saturday sitting to discuss the emergency legislation.
Jingye warned last month that the company’s two remaining blast furnaces — the last in Britain — were no longer financially viable and started consultations on job losses.
Ministers have said that all options were on the table, including nationalisation. The closure of the furnaces at British Steel’s plant in Scunthorpe would leave the UK as the only G7 country unable to make steel from scratch using raw materials.
Maintaining Britain’s steelmaking has become a major strategic priority for the government, which has put aside £2.5bn to support the sector.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government is also developing an industrial strategy to back key sectors, and is particularly concerned about the threat to the steel industry from Donald Trump’s 25 per cent global tariff on US steel and aluminium imports.
British Steel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story
