If you had a pound for every time a Labour MP posted over the weekend that they had been busy working on a Saturday – imagine that – you’d be a very rich co-conspirator. But the parliamentary theatrics of backbenchers is just spin and does not mean British Steel’s future is secure…
The weekend’s frenetic activity gives UK officials the ability to step in and take control of the plant from its current management under emergency powers – but that has not yet happened. Labour says it is still considering nationalisation – a decision which could take several weeks, after a collapse in relations with Chinese owners Jingye. The Scunthorpe plant’s two blast furnaces need to be kept firing during that time, otherwise they become almost impossible to turn back on…
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds bent over backwards to help Jingye save face by not accusing the firm of trying to sabotage the UK’s only virgin steel production furnaces yesterday – but the Chinese owners are accused of mismanagement. Luke De Pulford, of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, says: “It is an explicit strategy of the Chinese Communist Party to undermine the industrial base of foreign countries.” Ahead of a crucial meeting between officials and the factory today, British firms are being asked to provide stocks of iron ore and coking coal, and other raw materials needed to keep the facility operational. And while they race against the clock, Labour doubled down on Chinese investment (facilitated by secret meetings), insisting it was still welcome in the UK. Will steel production be the first casualty of the Golden Keir-a?
Following Andrew Rosindell’s defection, Nigel Farage posted on X:
“Andrew Rosindell will not be the last MP to put country before party before the deadline on May 7th.”