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Starmer moves to nationalise
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to renationalise British Steel and bring in new legislation to give the government “options” to protect the industry and Scunthorpe workers.
“Strong domestic steel production is vital for our economy”
The move follows a year after the government used emergency powers to take control of the firm and continue production at the site in Scunthorpe after its owner, Chinese firm Jingye, proposed to close the two blast furnaces.
Starmer said the legislation would be brought forward this week and would be subject to a public interest test considering factors including national security, maintaining critical national infrastructure and supporting the economy.
In a speech defending his leadership, Starmer said “Steel is the ultimate sovereign capability,” and that “Strong domestic steel production is vital for our economy” while the government seeks a route to public ownership.
The Reuters report said Britain could fully nationalise British Steel under the new plans announced on Monday, after it had not been possible to sell the Chinese-owned business the government saved from closure last year.
Union and industry reactions
Trade union GMB welcomed the move to nationalise British Steel, with Charlotte Brumpton-Childs saying: “This legislation will cover the whole steel industry – it isn’t specifically for British Steel but it is what will protect it from foreign owners.”
UK Steel director-general Gareth Stace welcomed the decision, saying it “provides vital certainty for the workforce, the company’s customers and the wider supply chain at a critical moment,” while stressing: “Nationalisation is not an end goal.”
The Independent reported that Starmer said the legislation would enable the government to make decisions about the steelmaker’s future and avoid “damaging disruption to crucial supply chains” while options for the site’s future are considered.
City AM quoted Starmer saying “What we did in Scunthorpe last year was one of the proudest things we’ve done in Government,” and that in Scunthorpe “we have been negotiating with the current owner, and an agreement hasn’t been met.”
City AM also said the government seized control of the loss-making steelworks from its Chinese owner Jingye after the company threatened to shutter the blast furnaces, having failed to reach an agreement on subsidies with ministers.
Jobs, costs, and next steps
The Reuters account said the government seized operational control of British Steel from its Chinese owners, Jingye, in April 2025 to stop the furnaces from being shut and to protect 2,700 jobs at the plant and thousands of related jobs in the supply chain.
“protect 2,700 jobs at the plant”
Reuters also said the cost of supporting British Steel is set to reach 615 million pounds ($836 million) by June, according to the country's spending watchdog, as the government looked for a private sector partner after negotiations with Jingye showed a commercial sale was not possible at this time.
The Times reported that economic control of the Scunthorpe-based British Steel remained in Chinese hands since the government seized day-to-day control in April last year, leaving the company in a “halfway house” and rendering vital modernisation impossible.
The Times said the House of Commons sat on a Saturday for only the sixth time since the end of the Second World War to enact laws giving the UK state operational control, and that an announcement confirming the plans was expected in the King’s Speech on Wednesday.
In parallel, the Independent said the legislation would be brought forward this week and would be subject to a public interest test, with the government saying it believes introducing legislation to provide a route to public ownership was the right next step.
