British Steel plant in Scunthorpe 鈥渧ital鈥� for country鈥檚 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. 鈥淭hey 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.鈥�

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.

starmer

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: 鈥淪teel is vital for both the UK鈥檚 national security and manufacturing and crucial for the government鈥檚 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.鈥�

Reynolds said the Scunthorpe plant provided the 鈥渉igh quality steel鈥� required by the rail and nuclear sectors. He added: 鈥淭he 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.鈥�

scunthorpe

Source: Shutterstock

The British Steel plant at Scunthorpe. Its Chinese owner said it is losing 拢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: 鈥淲e鈥檙e in a new and changing world where it鈥檚 never been more important to support our security and build our resilience, so that we can have strength abroad and renewal at home.鈥�