Ministers ask Hunt for £300m to avert mass British Steel job losses

Published

3 years ago

December 31, 2022

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Ministers are urging the chancellor to provide £300m of taxpayers’ money to avert the closure of British Steel’s two blast furnaces – a move that would trigger the loss of thousands of industrial jobs in northern England.

Sky News has learnt that Grant Shapps, the business secretary, and Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, wrote to Jeremy Hunt this month to warn that the demise of British Steel could cost the government up to £1bn in decommissioning and other liabilities.

In their letter, a copy of which has been seen by Sky News, Mr Hunt was asked to consider the economic case for supporting both British Steel, which is owned by a Chinese conglomerate, and the wider UK steel industry.

“Every other G20 nation has maintained domestic steel production and, while we do not think that this should come at any cost, we do believe it is in HMG’s interest to offer well-designed and targeted funding which unlocks private investment, achieves a good outcome for taxpayers, and enables transformed, decarbonised and viable domestic steel production to continue in the UK in the long-term,” Mr Shapps and Mr Gove wrote.

“We do not want to become reliant on steel sources elsewhere in the same way that energy security has become self-evidently important.

“Moreover, our steel requirement will increase by 20% due to large domestic infrastructure projects already committed to in the UK.”

One industry source briefed on the discussions in Whitehall said the chancellor had instructed Treasury officials to scrutinise the request.

The letter to Mr Hunt warned that British Steel “does not have a viable business without government support”.

“Closing one blast furnace would be a stepping-stone to closure of the second blast furnace, resulting in a highly unstable business model dependent on Chinese steel imports,” Mr Shapps and Mr Gove wrote.

“The local economic impact of closing both blast furnaces is estimated to be in the region of £360m to £640m, with a further £500m to £1bn liability for HMG through compulsory liquidation, insolvency and land liabilities (though £40m could potentially be raised through asset recovery”.

“Given the magnitude of the liabilities due to fall on HMG in the event of blast furnace closure, and following the PM’s steer, we would like officials to test whether net government support in the region of £300m for British Steel could prevent closure, protect jobs and create a cleaner viable long-term future for steel production in the United Kingdom.”

The fate of British Steel, which was bought by Jingye Group out of a previous insolvency process less than three years ago, has become increasingly unclear in recent months as the current owners have indicated that they would not maintain its operations without taxpayer funding.

British Steel employs about 4,000 people, with thousands more jobs in its supply chain dependent upon the company.

According to the letter to Mr Hunt, British Steel has already informed the government that it could close one of the Scunthorpe blast furnaces as soon as next month, with the loss of 1,700 jobs.

This would be “followed by the second blast furnace closing later in 2023, creating cumulative direct job losses of around 3,000”, Mr Shapps and Mr Gove wrote.

The plea to Mr Hunt followed a round of talks between Mr Shapps and Jingye earlier in December about supporting Britain’s second-largest steel producer.

Mr Shapps’ predecessor, Jacob Rees-Mogg – who lasted just weeks as business secretary under Liz Truss – opened formal talks with Jingye in October about the provision of government funding to help British Steel decarbonise.

One of the pre-conditions set by Whitehall for the discussions was that Jingye would not cut jobs at British Steel while the discussions were ongoing, although the recent letter to Mr Hunt said that ministers “cannot guarantee the company will choose to support jobs in the short term”.

Tata Steel, which is the biggest player in the UK steel sector, has also requested financial help from the government.

Responding to an enquiry from Sky News, a government spokesman said: “The government is committed to securing a sustainable and competitive future for the UK steel sector and we are working closely with industry to achieve this.

“We recognise that businesses are feeling the impact of high global energy prices, including steel producers, which is why we announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme to bring down costs.

“This is in addition to extensive support we have provided to the steel sector as a whole to help with energy costs, worth more than £800m since 2013.”

The request for financial support from Jingye poses a political headache for ministers, given the scale of the potential job losses which might result from a refusal to provide taxpayer aid.

An agreement to provide substantial taxpayer funding to a Chinese-owned business, however, would inevitably provoke outrage among Tory critics of Beijing.

China’s role in global steel production, after years of international trade rows about dumping, would make any subsidies even more contentious.

In May 2019, the Official Receiver was appointed to take control of the company after negotiations over an emergency £30m government loan fell apart.

British Steel had been formed in 2016 when India’s Tata Steel sold the business for £1 to Greybull Capital, an investment firm.

As part of the deal that secured ownership of British Steel for Jingye, the Chinese group said it would invest £1.2bn in modernising the business during the following decade.

Jingye’s purchase of the company, which completed in the spring of 2020, was hailed by Boris Johnson, the then prime minister, as assuring the future of steel production in Britain’s industrial heartlands.

British Steel has previously said of its negotiations with Whitehall: “We are continuing formal talks with the UK Government to help us overcome the global challenges we currently face.

“The government understands the significant impact the economic slowdown, rising inflation and exceptionally high energy and carbon prices are having on businesses like ours and we look forward to working together to build a sustainable future.”

Business

Unions demand no retreat on workers’ rights after Rayner quits

Published

9 mins ago

September 7, 2025

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Unions demand no retreat on workers' rights after Rayner quits

Union leaders are demanding no eleventh-hour retreat by the government on workers’ rights now their champion Angela Rayner is no longer in the cabinet.

As delegates gather in Brighton for the TUC’s annual conference, the movement’s leadership is claiming four million people – one in eight of the UK workforce – are in “pervasive” insecure work.

And union bosses are urging the government to stand firm and reject attempts by Tories and Liberal Democrats to weaken the former deputy prime minister’s Employment Rights Bill in its final stages in parliament.

The TUC’s general secretary, Paul Nowak, has claimed Ms Rayner, who resigned on Friday over unpaid stamp duty on a seaside flat, was a victim of misogyny and was being hounded out by right-wing politicians and right-wing media.

As well as Ms Rayner leaving the government, the other minister driving the bill through parliament, Jonathan Reynolds, was demoted in Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet reshuffle from the senior post of business secretary to chief whip.

Until last week, Ms Rayner had been expected to deliver the keynote Labour Party speech at the TUC on Tuesday, but it emerged midweek that the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, would be the speaker.

However, in Friday’s reshuffle she lost responsibility for adult skills – a key issue for the unions – to the new work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden, who will now head a new, beefed-up super-ministry promoting growth.

And ironically, the TUC conference in Brighton is taking place less than two miles from the luxury seaside flat in Hove, on which Ms Rayner’s avoidance of £40,000 in stamp duty led to her resignation as deputy PM, housing secretary and Labour deputy leader.

Just before parliament’s summer recess, the House of Lords backed by 304 votes to 160 a Tory-led amendment to Ms Rayner’s bill to reduce the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from two years to six months, rather than from day one, as proposed by Ms Rayner.

Third reading of the bill in the Lords was last Wednesday, the day of Ms Rayner’s Sky News confession, and the bill is now set for parliamentary ping-pong, assuming the government overturns the Lords’ amendments in the Commons.

But in a pre-conference interview with Sky News, TUC chief and Rayner supporter Mr Nowak demanded no diluting of her bill, which also includes banning zero hours contracts which exploit workers and fire and rehire.

“We are now at a crucial stage in the delivery of the Employment Rights Bill, just weeks away from Royal Assent,” said Mr Nowak. “And our clear message to the government will be to deliver the bill and deliver it in full.

“Ignore the amendments from the unelected peers, Tory and Lib Dem peers in the House of Lords, that are aimed at gutting the legislation, weakening workers’ rights.

“Stand with the British public, deliver decent employment rights. That’s important in workplaces up and down the country, but it’s important because these are proposals that are popular with the British public as well.”

The TUC says its analysis shows low-paid jobs in occupations such as the care, leisure and service sectors account for 77% of the increase in insecure jobs since 2011.

Black and ethnic minority ethnic workers account for 70% of the explosion in insecure work, according to the TUC, and southwest England and Yorkshire and Humber are insecure work hotspots.

Mr Nowak told Sky News: “We’ve got well over a million people now on zero-hours contracts. We’ve got millions of people who don’t have sick pay from day one and 70% of the kids who live in poverty have parents who go out to work.

“The government is absolutely right to be focused on making work pay. And the Employment Rights Bill is about putting more money in the pockets of working people, giving people more security at work.

“That’s good for workers, but it’s also good for good employers as well, so they’re not undercut by the cowboys.”

Speaking to Sky News last Wednesday, shortly after Ms Rayner’s tearful confession to Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby, Mr Nowak said: “There’s a real heavy dose of misogyny when it comes to Angela.

“Angela Rayner is playing a really important role in government and I wouldn’t want to see her hounded out of an important role by right-wing politicians and the right-wing media, who frankly can’t handle the fact that a working-class woman is our deputy prime minister.”

Business

Tube strikes: Full list of dates and lines affected in September walkout

Published

9 mins ago

September 7, 2025

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Tube strikes: Full list of dates and lines affected in September walkout

Londoners face almost a week of travel disruption when Underground workers go on strike next week.

There will be limited or no services for several days, and those services that are still running are expected to be busier than usual.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) voted overwhelmingly for strike action after nine months of negotiations failed to resolve a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

Transport for London (TfL) has offered a 3.4% pay rise which it described as “fair” but said it cannot afford to meet the RMT’s demand for a cut in the 35-hour working week.

Further talks have also failed to end in an agreement, but Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, said it was not too late to call off the strikes before causing chaos in the capital.

Here is all you need to know.

When are strikes planned?

Strikes are planned from midnight on Sunday 7 September to 11.59pm on Thursday 11 September.

There is separate planned industrial action on 5 and 6 September, but this is not expected to cause disruption on TfL services.

The other days, however, will see delays across every underground line and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).

What’s running – and what’s not?

Sunday 7 September:

• Disruption across the entire Tube network, with limited services running
• Those that are running will finish early, with TfL encouraging people to finish journeys by 6pm
• The DLR will be running a normal service

Monday 8 September:

Tube
• Little to no service running across the entire Tube network
• No service before 8am or after 6pm

DLR
• Full service, but stations shared with the Tube network may face disruption

Tuesday 9 September:

Tube
• Little to no service running across the entire Tube network
• No service before 8am or after 6pm

DLR
• No service on the entire network

Wednesday 9 September:

Tube
• Little to no service running across the entire Tube network
• No service before 8am or after 6pm

DLR
• Full service, but stations shared with the Tube network may face disruption

Thursday 11 September:

Tube
• Little to no service running across the entire Tube network
• No service before 8am or after 6pm

DLR
• No service on the entire network

Friday 12 September:

Tube
• No service before 8am
• Service will return to normal on all lines by late morning

DLR
• Normal service

What about the Elizabeth Line and Overground?

The Elizabeth Line, London Overground and trams will be running on strike days. London’s bus network is also expected to be running a full service.

However, TfL warns other services will be extremely busy and trains may be unable to stop at all stations or run to their normal destinations.

On Monday 8 and Wednesday 10 September, the Elizabeth line will not stop at the following stations before 7.30am and after 10.30pm:

• Liverpool Street
• Farringdon
• Tottenham Court Road

On Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 September, trains will not stop at the same stations before 8am.

How to get around during the Tube strike

As always during industrial action, TfL urges commuters to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys.

To do this, use TfL’s journey planner, or apps including City Mapper.

Cycling or walking is also recommended by TfL, with Santander, Lime and Forest bikes available to hire across the capital, as well as electric scooters in some London boroughs.

Have any events been cancelled?

As a result of the strike, Coldplay have rescheduled the final two dates of their 10-show run at Wembley Stadium.

The band posted a statement on social media to say their Music Of The Spheres shows on 7 and 8 September have been rescheduled to 6 and 12 September respectively.

“Without a Tube service, it’s impossible to get 82,000 people to the concert and home again safely, and therefore no event licence can be granted,” the band said.

US singer-songwriter Post Malone has also rescheduled his two shows at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 7th and 8th September due to the strikes.

Tickets for both shows will remain valid for the rescheduled dates on 20th and 21st September.

Events for the BBC Proms are expected to still run throughout the week at the Royal Albert Hall until the last night on 13 September.

Business

Good weather and Women’s Euros helps UK net surprise boost to retail sales

Published

2 days ago

September 5, 2025

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Good weather and Women's Euros helps UK net surprise boost to retail sales

Retail sales rose a surprising amount in July, as good weather and the Women’s Euros led people to part with their cash, official figures show.

The amount of spending rose 0.6% in July, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), far above the 0.2% rise anticipated by economists polled by Reuters.

In particular, clothing and footwear stores, as well as online shopping, experienced strong growth.

Money blog: UK airport ranked worst for fourth year in a row

When looked at on a three-month basis, the numbers are weaker, with a 0.6% fall in sales up to July due in part to downward revisions in June.

Spending has declined since March, when supermarkets, sports shops, and household goods saw strong sales at the beginning of the year as warm and sunny weather pushed summer purchases earlier. Though compared to a year ago, sales are up 1.1%.

Retail sales figures are significant as they measure household consumption, the largest expenditure in the UK economy.

Growing retail sales can mean economic growth, which the government has repeatedly said is its top priority.

A problem with the figures

These figures were originally due to be published in August but were delayed by two weeks so the ONS could carry out “quality assurance” checks.

Following the checks, the statistics body found a “problem”, which meant it had to correct seasonally adjusted figures.

It hasn’t been the only question mark over the reliability of ONS figures.

In March, UK trade figures were delayed due to errors from 2023, and the office continues to advise caution in interpreting changes in the monthly unemployment rate due to concerns over data reliability.

As a result of the latest error, previously monthly figures overstated the monthly volatility in the first five months of 2025, the ONS’s director general of economic statistics, James Benford, said.

Mr Benford apologised for the release delay and for the errors.

What could it mean?

It could mean retrospective changes to the UK economic growth rate, according to Rob Wood, the chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

April’s economic growth rate will be revised down, and May’s will be moved up as a result, Mr Wood said.

There will be no impact on the Bank of England’s interest rate decision, he added.