UK lawmakers will be recalled from their Easter break to discuss the future of British Steel in parliament on Saturday, the House of Commons said, with reports the struggling company could be nationalised.
The speaker “granted a request from the government to recall” the lower chamber “to take forward legislative proposals to ensure the continued operation” of the struggling steelmaker, a statement read.
The lower house of Britain’s bi-cameral parliament was last recalled from recess in August 2021 for a debate about the situation then unfolding in Afghanistan as the western-backed government fell to the Taliban.
In an indication of how seriously the government is taking the plight of British Steel, the last Saturday sitting of parliament took place in October 2019 to vote on prime minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.
Before that MPs sat on a Saturday at the start of the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina in 1982.
UK media reported on Wednesday that Britain’s Labour government is considering the nationalisation of the flagging company, after its Chinese owners recently said it would scale back operations.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that all options were possible but has not specifically mentioned nationalisation.
Pressure is mounting over British Steel less than two weeks after it confirmed plans to shut blast furnaces and other operations in England, as it continues talks with the government.
British Steel said US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the sector were partly to blame for a decision which could cost up to 2,700 jobs at its main UK site in Scunthorpe, northern England.
However, it is fierce competition from cheaper Asian steel that has been blamed for heaping pressure on Europe’s beleaguered steel industry in recent years.
The Financial Times on Wednesday reported that finance minister Rachel Reeves “is open to the option of bringing British steel into public ownership”, citing people close to recent conversations held between the minister and union bosses.
UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds met with the CEOs of British Steel and owner Jingye this week to discuss the future of Scunthorpe.
British Steel, which employs about 3,500 people, has so far failed to reach agreement with the UK government on a financial package that would help it transition to “greener” steel making.
Starmer recently announced that the government was stumping up some GBP2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) to help support the steel sector in Britain, home also to operations owned by Indian group Tata.
Saturday’s sitting will begin at 11:00 am (1000 GMT).
