British Steel plant in Scunthorpe “vital” for country’s national security, business department says

The government should start mandating how much British-made steel is used in big infrastructure projects, according to Mace executive chairman Mark Reynolds.

He told the BBC this morning the Cabinet Office and Treasury could intervene and set targets for how much homegrown steel is used on public jobs in the future. “They really need to specify the proportion of British steel it wants to procure in its projects. This is important for two reasons. It will help increase volume and it will allow us [the UK} to invest for that long term.”

Over the weekend, Parliament was recalled to pass measures allowing the UK government powers to effectively direct operations at the home of British Steel in Scunthorpe.

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Source: Flickr/Number 10

Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with workers and union representatives near the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe on Saturday

The plant is still owned by Jingye, a Chinese company but blast furnaces at the site are at risk of being turned off if raw materials to fuel them are not delivered in time.

The UK government argues keeping the site operating is crucial both for national and economic security.

Announcing the decision to effectively nationalise British Streel, the Department for Business and Trade said on Saturday: “Steel is vital for both the UK’s national security and manufacturing and crucial for the government’s mission to build 1.5 million new homes in the UK as part of its Plan for Change, with construction projects requiring millions of tonnes of steel.”

Reynolds said the Scunthorpe plant provided the “high quality steel” required by the rail and nuclear sectors. He added: “The UK must have the resilience in its UK steel market and the capability and capacity to deliver the volumes to meet the 10 year infrastructure plan which is vitally important for growing the economy.”

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Source: Shutterstock

The British Steel plant at Scunthorpe. Its Chinese owner said it is losing £700,000 a day

Underlining the importance of British Steek to the rail industry, Network Rail has previously said that around 95% of its rails are from British Steel.

Explaining why the government had stepped in, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds added: “We’re in a new and changing world where it’s never been more important to support our security and build our resilience, so that we can have strength abroad and renewal at home.”