Starmer Announces British Steel Nationalisation Powers for Full Ownership
Sir Keir Starmer said british steel nationalisation legislation will be brought forward this week to give the government powers to take full ownership of British Steel. He said, “Public ownership is in the public interest,” and added that “commercial sale has not been possible, and now a public test could be met.”
The plan affects the 2,700-strong workforce at Scunthorpe and moves the company closer to public ownership after the government took control of the site in April last year. Starmer’s speech set out a public interest test covering national security, critical national infrastructure and the economy.
Scunthorpe and Jingye
The government seized control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe steelworks from its Chinese owners Jingye in April last year after talks collapsed. Ministers acted to halt the potential closure of the blast furnaces, and the intervention kept open the possibility of domestic virgin steel production.
Jingye said the Scunthorpe site was losing £700,000 a day. The government had held talks with the company while it looked for private investors, but that effort did not produce a commercial sale.
UK Steel and Gareth Stace
UK Steel welcomed the announcement, saying it provided “vital certainty” for the 2,700 workforce and the company’s customers. Gareth Stace, the group’s director-general, said maintaining domestic production capability for British Steel’s products is essential for economic growth and for national security and resilience.
Stace also said the move was “not an end goal” but the “beginning of a clear and credible long-term plan for British Steel.”
Costs and public ownership
The financial pressure around the plant remains part of the case for a permanent decision. The understands the government is spending about £1m a day to keep the loss-making company going, while the National Audit Office said in March that the current government supervision regime had cost some £377m.
The audit office said continued spending at current rates could exceed £1.5bn in 2028, depending on policy choices. That leaves ministers moving from temporary control toward a permanent ownership model, with the public interest test now the route Starmer said could justify the transfer.
