‘Likely’ British Steel will be nationalised, says business secretary Jonathan Reynolds
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said it is “likely” that British Steel will be nationalised.
However he also stressed the importance of finding a private sector partner for the business because the scale of capital required for steel transformation was “very significant, even with government support”.
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It comes after he appeared to row back on his claim that he would not bring a Chinese company into the steel sector again after ministers had to urgently step in to save the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe.
Mr Reynolds, speaking to reporters in the Lincolnshire town after raw materials arrived to keep the site running, said that nationalisation was the “likely option at this stage”.
He added: “What we are now going to do, having secured both control of the site and the supply of raw materials, so the blast furnaces won’t close in a matter of days, is work on the future.
“We’ve got the ownership question, which is pressing.
“I was clear when I gave the speech in parliament – we know there is a limited lifespan of the blast furnaces, and we know that what we need for the future is a private sector partner to come in and work with us on that transformation and co-fund that transformation.”
The government passed emergency legislation on Saturday to take over British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, the last in the UK capable of producing virgin steel, after talks with its Chinese owners, Jingye, broke down.
The company recently cancelled orders for supplies of the raw materials needed to keep the blast furnaces running, sparking a race against time to keep it operational.
While those materials have been secured, questions remain about the long-term future of British Steel and whether it will be fully nationalised or the private sector will get involved.
Reynolds rows back
Mr Reynolds earlier said he would look at Chinese firms “in a different way” following the row but did not rule out their involvement completely.
He previously told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, that he would not “personally bring a Chinese company into our steel sector” again, describing steel as a “sensitive area” in the UK.
However, industry minister Sarah Jones took a different position on Tuesday morning, telling Sky News she is “not ruling out” the possibility of another Chinese partner.
She said having a pragmatic relationship with Beijing, the world’s second-biggest economy, is still important and stringent tests would apply “to a Chinese company as they would to any other company”.
Asked for clarity on his position during a visit to the port of Immingham, where materials from two ships were being unloaded and transported to the plant, Mr Reynolds said: “I think we’ve got to recognise that steel is a sensitive sector.
Explainer: Why has the government rescued British Steel?
“A lot of the issues in the global economy with steel come from production and dumping of steel products… so I think you would look at a Chinese firm in a different way.
“But I’m really keen to stress the action we’ve taken here was to step in because it was one specific company that I thought wasn’t acting in the UK’s national interest, and we had to take the action we did.”
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China relationship ‘really important’
The materials that arrived on Tuesday, including coking coal and iron, are enough to keep the furnaces running for weeks, the Department for Business and Trade said.
They are needed because if the furnaces cool down too much, the molten iron solidifies and blocks the furnaces, making it extremely difficult and expensive to restart them.
‘Chinese ownership truly dreadful’
Opposition politicians have accused China of sabotage to increase reliance on its steel products, and want the country to be prevented from future dealings not only with steel but any UK national infrastructure.
Veteran Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the government needs to define which industries are “strategic” – and prevent China from being allowed to invest in such sectors.
Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said reverting to Chinese ownership would be like finding “your house ransacked and then leaving your doors unlocked”.
Raw materials for the Scunthorpe steel plant
Coking coal is unloaded at Immingham Port. Pic: Reuters
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage took the same position, saying the thought the government “could even contemplate another Chinese owner of British steel is truly dreadful”, and that he would not have China “in our nuclear program, anywhere near our telecoms or anything else”.
“They are not our friends,” he added.
Number 10 said on Monday that it was not aware of any “sabotage” at the plant and there is no block on Chinese companies.
The Chinese embassy has urged the British government not to “politicise” the situation by “linking it to security issues”, saying it is “an objective fact that British steel companies have generally encountered difficulties in recent years”.
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Jingye reported losses of around £700k a day at Scunthorpe, which will now come at a cost to the taxpayer.
During Tuesday morning’s interview round, Ms Jones said the government had offered Jingye money in return for investment and “we think that there is a model there that we could replicate with another private sector company”.
But she said there “isn’t another private sector company there waiting in the wings” currently, and that it may be a “national solution” that is needed.
She said “all of the options” were expensive but that it would have cost more to the taxpayer to allow the site to shut.
A YouGov poll shows the majority of the public (61%) support the government’s decision to nationalise British Steel.
Business
‘Absolutely gutted’: £16,500 Glastonbury packages won’t be fulfilled after company goes bust
Glastonbury ticket holders have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after a luxury glamping company went bust.
Festival-goers who booked their tickets and accommodation with Yurtel have been told the company can no longer fulfil its orders and has ceased trading with immediate effect.
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Some had spent more than £16,500 through Yurtel, with hospitality packages starting at £10,000.
In an email, Yurtel said it was unable to provide customers with any refunds, advising them to go through a third party to claim back the money once the liquidation process had started.
To add insult to injury, customers found out that Yurtel had failed to purchase the tickets for the 25 -29 June festival that they thought had been booked as part of their packages.
In a letter to customers, Yurtel’s founder Mickey Luke said: “I am deeply sorry that you have received this devastating news and am writing to apologise.
“Yurtel is a hospitality business who pride themselves on looking after our customers, delivering a unique product and striving to create a better client experience year on year. Due to a culmination of factors over the past years, we have failed to be able to continue to do so and are heartbroken.”
The Money blog has contacted Yurtel to see if the business has anything to add.
Several people have also reported that they were unable to pay by credit card at the time of booking, with the company instead asking for a bank transfer.
This means they are unable to use chargeback to get a refund. You can read more about that here…
Pic: PA
‘I feel really ripped off’
One of those customers was Lydia, who told Money she was “absolutely gutted” after spending thousands.
This year’s festival was “really important” to her as she was forced to miss out last year despite having tickets due to a health issue that left her needing an operation.
“We tried to get Glastonbury tickets through the normal kind of route and couldn’t get them,” the accountant said.
She ended up booking with Yurtel in November, sending over all the funds a month later.
“It’s super expensive. It was really, really important to us. Last year was gutting with the surgery and the whole situation around that was very traumatic, so it was a very special thing to then get the opportunity to go this year. It’s really gutting,” she said.
“I feel really ripped off and I’m really disappointed in the festival, to be honest. I think that response is just pretty rubbish.”
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Yurtel did not pay for festival tickets, Glastonbury says
Glastonbury said Yurtel was one of a small number of campsites local to the festival site – Worthy Farm – with limited access to purchase hospitality tickets for their guests in certain circumstances.
But, it had not paid for any tickets for the 2025 festival before going into liquidation, and so no tickets were secured for its guests, it added. Every year, Glastonbury’s website says that ticketing firm See Tickets is the only official source for buying tickets for the festival.
“As such we have no records of their bookings and are unable to take any responsibility for the services and the facilities they offer,” the festival said.
“Anyone who has paid Yurtel for a package including Glastonbury 2025 tickets will need to pursue any potential recompense available from them via the liquidation process as outlined in their communication to you.
“We are not able to incur the cost or responsibility of their loss or replacement.”
Instead, the festival has urged Yurtel customers to contact Yurtel@btguk.com to confirm their consent for personal data and details of their party to be shared with Glastonbury.
“We will then be able to provide details of alternative potential sources for those customers to purchase tickets and accommodation for this year’s festival,” the festival added.
‘Only option’ on offer is ‘pretty weak’
Lydia said she agreed for her details to be passed on to Glastonbury, and the festival has told her the only option is to pay for the tickets again from another provider.
“They are not giving us the opportunity to buy the tickets at face value. We would then have to go again and spend another stupidly unreasonable amount of money to be able to go. It’s pretty disappointing,” she added.
“It’s pretty weak that the only option they’re giving people who’ve already lost out on huge amounts of money is to go and spend huge amounts more money.”
It’s left her feeling like she won’t go to the festival this year – and she’s not hopeful about getting her money back.
She said: “To be honest, I just don’t think I can afford it.
“It’s already so much money wasted, and I’m not at all optimistic we’ll get anything back.”
Business
Federal judges rule Trump tariffs can stay in place for now – as president rages at trade court’s ‘country threatening decision’
A federal appeals court has ruled that Donald Trump’s sweeping international tariffs can remain in place for now, a day after three judges ruled the president exceeded his authority.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) has allowed the president to temporarily continue collecting tariffs under emergency legislation while it considers the government’s appeal.
It comes after the Court of International Trade blocked the additional taxes on foreign-made goods after its three-judge panel ruled that the Constitution gives Congress the power to levy taxes and tariffs – not the president.
The judges also ruled Mr Trump exceeded his authority by invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The CAFC said the lower trade court and the Trump administration must respond by 5 June and 9 June, respectively.
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Posting on Truth Social, Mr Trump said the trade court’s ruling was a “horrible, Country threatening decision,” and said he hopes the Supreme Court would reverse it “QUICKLY and DECISIVELY”.
After calling into question the appointment of the three judges, and suggesting the ruling was based on “purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP’,” he added: “Backroom ‘hustlers’ must not be allowed to destroy our Nation!
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“The horrific decision stated that I would have to get the approval of Congress for these Tariffs. In other words, hundreds of politicians would sit around D.C. for weeks, and even months, trying to come to a conclusion as to what to charge other Countries that are treating us unfairly.
“If allowed to stand, this would completely destroy Presidential Power — The Presidency would never be the same!”
The US president unveiled the controversial measures on “Liberation Day” in April, which included a 10% tariff on UK imports and caused aggressive sell-offs in the stock market.
Mr Trump argued he invoked the decades-old law to collect international tariffs because it was a “national emergency”.
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From April: ‘This is Liberation Day’
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The trade court ruling marked the latest legal challenge to the tariffs, and related to a case brought on behalf of five small businesses that import goods from other countries.
Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel for the Liberty Justice Center – a nonprofit representing the five firms – said the appeal court would ultimately agree that the tariffs posed “a direct threat to the very survival of these businesses”.
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US treasury secretary Scott Bessent also told Fox News on Thursday that the initial ruling had not interfered with trade deal negotiations with partners.
He said that countries “are coming to us in good faith” and “we’ve seen no change in their attitude in the past 48 hours,” before saying he would meet with a Japanese delegation in Washington on Friday.
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