British Steel employees express fears over future of Scunthorpe plant
MPs are set to debate emergency legislation to keep the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe open in a move that would pave the way for nationalisation.
The rare Saturday sitting of parliament will come after Jingye, the steelwork’s Chinese owner, cancelled orders for the raw materials needed to keep the UK’s last blast furnaces running.
Jingye also rejected a £500m state rescue package in a move which raised fresh doubts about the 3,500 jobs at the Lincolnshire plant – with it feared the site would be forced to close as early as next week.
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Here we speak to current employees of the steelworks about how they feel about the uncertainty over its future.
‘A lot of anxiety on the steelworks’
Steve
Steve, who did not give his surname, works for British Steel and believes it’s important for the plant to be taken into public ownership.
He said: “If the government doesn’t step up and nationalise British steel in some form, they’re basically sending us back down to the Stone Age.
“We will not be in a position where we can produce pure iron, pure steel, with all the conflicts going on in the world and all the rest of it.
“And if you don’t have them furnaces, you’re going to be tied to a barrel with the rest of the world charging you what they want to charge you to produce steel.“
He added: “I don’t believe the Chinese have got any interest in keeping the place open.”
Steve said as an employee he has seen “a lot of anxiety on the steelworks” and continued: “A lot of people are worried about losing their houses, their mortgages… it’s not a good situation to be in at the moment.”
‘We’ve been through a lot of turmoil’
Steve Woodcock
Steve Woodcock, a lead engineer at the steelworks, said the “Chinese need to go” and the government should nationalise the plant.
He said: “The government need to step in, start leading it from the front and then we can move forward. The country needs us… We want to be there for the country.
“We’ve been let down I think by a lot of companies over the years… we have been through a lot of turmoil over the years… so the government definitely need to step in.”
Asked how he feels about the future of his job, he said: “I don’t want anybody to lose their job. We’ve got a lot of skilled people and that’s why I want it to stay like that. I’m passionate about the business, as everybody that works there that I know is.
“I don’t want to get a job elsewhere. I enjoy the job that I do there.”
‘A really scary situation’
Martin Grimbleby
Martin Grimbleby has worked at the plant for 20 years and is concerned about losing his job.
He continued: “I’ve got a young family… They’re saying to me ‘what’s going to happen, dad, if the place shuts?’ Are we going to have to move house?’
“It’s just a really scary situation. I’m at an age where I don’t want to be going to go for another interview or anything like that.
“To me, it was a job for life and it was a job for me to look after my family.
“My father worked there before me, I just don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Asked what he thinks the impact would be if the plant had to close, he replied: “It would destroy this place.
“It might as well be a waste site after that. Once the steelworks shuts, that is it. There’s nothing left of Scunthorpe after the steelworks. In my opinion, nothing.”
Mr Grimbleby also believes the best thing for the plant for now is “pure government nationalisation”.
Scunthorpe ‘as a town will end’ if plant closes
Steve Brown
Steve Brown does not work at the plant but said he knows a lot of retired former employees who are “devastated” about the problems facing the steelworks.
He also knows apprentices who are learning their trade at the plant and added: “They’re 18 to 20 years old – it’s devastating for them because if it closes, which I understand it’s not going to because I’ve heard the government is going to take it on and nationalise it, but if they don’t, Scunthorpe as a town will end.”
Mr Brown added he thinks it’s a shame the legislation being debated on Saturday stops short of full nationalisation.
He continued: “It’s not just the steelworkers… it’s all the companies that support them and rely on their business.“
Mr Brown added he was “devastated” when Jingye took over the steelworks and he does not think it “should ever have happened”.
He said: “I said from day one that all the Chinese want to do is learn how to make brilliant steel, like we’ve always done in Scunthorpe, and as soon as they learn how to do it, take it back to China and close British Steel down – and that’s exactly what’s happening, because imported steel is rubbish.”
Rory McIlroy has completed a career Grand Slam in golf with his win at the US Masters tournament.
The Masters was the last major tournament left for McIlroy to complete the modern golf Grand Slam – a feat only five others have managed before him.
McIlroy, who was making his 11th attempt at completing the Grand Slam, faced off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to decide the Masters champion, after they finished tied on 11 under at the end of regulation on Sunday.
McIlroy reacts as he wins. Pic: AP
McIlroy reacts after winning against Justin Rose at the Masters. Pic: AP
“It’s my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said just before slipping on the Green Jacket during the presentation ceremony.
“I’m just absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”
McIlroy had missed his six-foot putt for par, a bogey which dropped him back to 11 under, where he joined Rose – leading to a dramatic play-off between the two.
Only five other golfers have been able to complete a career Grand Slam, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
Pic: AP
McIlroy is a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, claiming the prize in 2012 and 2014.
The 35-year-old also won his first major title, the US Open, in 2011, and won The Open Championship in 2014.
How did McIlroy get to the victory?
McIlroy recovered from losing his overnight two-shot advantage with an opening-hole double bogey to initially take control at Augusta National, only to blow a four-shot lead over his closing six holes.
The world No 2 bogeyed the last to close a one-over 73 and slip back to 11 under alongside Rose, who overturned a seven-stroke deficit and posted a stunning final-round 66 to force a play-off.
The players returned to the 18th for the play-off, where McIlroy made amends for his 72nd-hole blunder by firing a stunning approach to within three feet of the pin and making the birdie putt required for a life-changing win.
UK
Race to keep British Steel furnaces running with last-minute efforts to secure raw materials under way
Last-minute efforts to keep British Steel operating are to be carried out today, as the plant races to secure a supply of raw materials.
The Department for Business and Trade said officials are working to secure supplies of materials, including coking coal, to keep British Steel operational, as well as to ensure all staff will be paid.
It added that setting up new supply chains was “crucial” as a fall in blast furnace temperature could risk “irreparable damage to the site, with the steel setting and scarring the machinery”.
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British Steel: What happens next?
Companies including Tata – which ran the now-closed Port Talbot steelworks – and Rainham Steel have offered managerial support and materials to keep the Lincolnshire site running.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement that “when I said steelmaking has a future in the UK, I meant it”.
“Steel is vital for our national security and our ambitious plans for the housing, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in the UK,” he added.
“We will set out a long-term plan to co-invest with the private sector to ensure steel in the UK has a bright and sustainable future.”
Unions said Jingye decided to cancel orders of key materials for the steelworks
Earlier this month, unions said the steelwork’s owner, Chinese company Jingye, decided to cancel future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
It meant the Scunthorpe plant had been on course to close down by May, bit it sparked urgent calls for government intervention.
Emergency legislation was passed on Saturday bringing the steelworks into effective government control, and officials were on site as soon as the new legislation came into force.
However, the business secretary has warned that does not mean the plant is guaranteed to survive.
Appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds also said he would not bring a Chinese company into the “sensitive” steel sector again.
“I don’t know… the Boris Johnson government when they did this, what exactly the situation was,” he added. “But I think it’s a sensitive area.”
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‘I wouldn’t bring a Chinese company into our steel sector’
Jingye stepped in with a deal to buy British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant out of insolvency in 2020, when Mr Johnson was prime minister.
The minister added that while The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill stops short of the full nationalisation of British Steel, “to be frank, as I said to parliament yesterday, it is perhaps at this stage the likely option”.
The Conservatives accused the government of acting “too late” and implementing a “botched nationalisation” after ignoring warnings about the risk to the steelworks.
Read more:
A sticking plaster, not a solution: What next for British Steel?
How Trump, China and Reform all played their part
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “The Labour Government have landed themselves in a steel crisis entirely of their own making.
“They’ve made poor decisions and let the unions dictate their actions.”
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