British Steel’s fate is a headache for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is trying to preserve a key industry just as Britain is stepping up defence spending and seeking to reduce the country’s reliance on other countries for critical resources. The matter is further complicated by British Steel having a Chinese owner which has already rejected a GBP500 million UK rescue package. The government remains in talks with Jingye to seek a way forward.
The UK is seriously considering nationalising Jingye Group’s British Steel, as ministers rush to rescue the country’s last steelmaker from the prospect of permanent closure.
Amid concerns the manufacturer’s main plant in Scunthorpe faces imminent closure, Britain’s Labour government is holding active discussions about taking it into public ownership, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity about plans that haven’t been finalised and may not materialise. Ministers will do whatever it takes to save British Steel from collapse, they said.
