Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure
Britain’s second-biggest steel producer is kicking off a consultation that could lead to the closure of its two blast furnaces and more than half of its workforce losing their jobs – a move that will pile pressure on the government to improve an offer of taxpayer aid to the company.
Sky News has learnt that British Steel was on Thursday morning in discussions with trade unions about a redundancy process that could result in between 2,000 and 2,500 employees being axed out of a workforce of 3,500.
One trade union source said that meetings were taking place on Thursday morning, with a public statement about plans to accelerate the closure of Scunthorpe’s two blast furnaces emerging soon after.
The company said the consultations related to the closure of the blast furnaces, steelmaking operations and a reduction of steel rolling mill capacity in Scunthorpe.
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The launch of the redundancy consultation comes amid an impasse between Jingye Group, British Steel’s Chinese owner, over a government subsidy package to aid the company’s transition to greener steel production.
Sky News revealed on Wednesday that Jingye had this week rejected a £500m offer from the government.
Sarah Jones, the industry minister, told MPs that talks were continuing, while an urgent question is expected to be answered in the House of Commons on Thursday.
The £500m proposal – aimed at facilitating the Scunthorpe-based group’s transition to green steel production – follows years of talks aimed at salvaging the future of the UK’s second-biggest producer.
Its scale is equivalent to the sum awarded to the larger Tata Steel as part of a £1.25bn package finalised last year.
Whitehall sources said that Jingye’s business plan would involve a smaller number of jobs being cut if a switch to electric arc furnaces took place, with the redundancies also staggered over a longer period.
However, the Chinese group has argued that that transition would only be possible with a larger sum of government funding, they added.
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In a statement sent to Sky News, the Community union’s general secretary, Roy Rickhuss, said: “This is a dark day for our steel industry and for our country.
“We urge Jingye and the UK Government to get back around the table to resume negotiations before it is too late.
“Cruciallly, Jingye have not ruled out retaining the blast furnaces during a transition to low carbon steelmaking if they can secure the backing of the Government.
“The closures at Scunthorpe would represent a hammer blow to communities which were built on steel, and where the industry still supports thousands of jobs directly and thousands more through extensive supply chains.
“Given that we are now on the cusp of becoming the only G7 country without domestic primary steelmaking capacity, it is no exaggeration to say that our national security is gravely threatened.
“This would be catastrophic at any time, let alone in the current era of geopolitical instability and volatility. Steel is an essential component of defensive infrastructure, just as it is to wider plans to invest in growth across the country.
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The rejection of the £500m offer leaves Scunthorpe’s future on a knife-edge, although Whitehall sources said that all parties involved in the negotiations were hopeful that a deal could yet be struck.
However, the package offered so far falls well short of the sum that Jingye has been seeking from the government during several rounds of talks since Labour won last summer’s general election.
The Chinese-owned group is thought to have requested £1bn or more from ministers – double the amount handed to Tata Steel, owner of the Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales, last autumn.
British Steel, which was taken over by Jingye in 2020 after a spell in public ownership, employs several thousand people at its sites in Scunthorpe, Teesside and elsewhere.
It has been pushing for taxpayer funding to support a transition to green steelmaking by replacing Scunthorpe’s two blast furnaces with cleaner electric arc furnaces.
Reports late last year suggested that nationalisation was an option being explored by ministers.
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The government’s proposal comes at a deeply sensitive time for Britain’s steel industry, with fears of swingeing US tariffs exacerbating concerns that the sector’s viability will be put at risk.
Last month, Mr Reynolds published the government’s Plan for Steel consultation, which will include up to £2.5bn in funding for the industry, in line with a commitment in last year’s Labour election manifesto.
“The UK steel industry has a long-term future under this government,” he said.
“Britain is open for business, and this government has committed up to £2.5bn to the future of steel to protect our industrial heartlands, maintain jobs, and drive growth as part of our Plan for Change.”
During the same month, Mr Reynolds held further talks with Jingye Group’s boss, Li Huiming, in the latest chapter of a negotiation which has been dragging on for more than two years.
British Steel was bought by Jingye the year after it was placed into compulsory liquidation.
The company had been owned by private investment firm Greybull Capital.
British Steel CEO, Mr Zengwei An, said: “We understand this is an extremely difficult day for our staff, their families, and everyone associated with British Steel.
“But we believe this is a necessary decision given the hugely challenging circumstances the business faces.
“We remain committed to engaging with our workforce and unions, as well as our suppliers and customers during this time.”
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds responded: “I know this will be a deeply worrying time for staff and, while this is British Steel’s decision, we will continue working tirelessly to reach an agreement with the company’s owners to secure its future and protect taxpayers’ money.
“We’ve been clear there’s a bright future for steelmaking in the UK. We’ve committed up to £2.5bn to rebuild the sector and will soon publish a Plan for Steel setting out how we can achieve a sustainable future for the workforce, industry and local communities.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham described the company’s move as a “disgrace”
She said: “British Steel is guilty of trying to hold the government to ransom, while using its dedicated workforce as pawns… British Steel must now withdraw its job threats and work with the government and Unite on a sustainable way forward which is in the best interests of the workers, their communities and the wider economy.”
Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley Mayor, said of the impact: “This is devastating for Britain. Losing our ability to make steel in a world as insecure as this is not just short-sighted, it’s dangerous.
“We had a serious deal on the table to bring an electric arc furnace to Teesside. It would have secured jobs, attracted investment, and delivered a long-term future for green steelmaking in the UK. For whatever reason, that deal was quietly dropped. Instead, we ended up with unworkable proposals in Scunthorpe that were politically convenient but strategically and economically flawed.
“I’ve worked constructively with the Labour Government throughout, but I warned them repeatedly: the path they were on would end in collapse. Today, we’ve seen the result.”
Negotiations to reset the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU are going “to the wire”, a Cabinet Office minister has said.
“There is no final deal as yet. We are in the very final hours,” the UK’s lead negotiator Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.
On the possibility of a youth mobility scheme with the EU, he insisted “nothing is agreed until everything is”.
“We would be open to a smart, controlled youth mobility scheme,” he said. “But I should set out, we will not return to freedom of movement.”
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The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday.
Put to the minister that the government could not guarantee there will be a deal by tomorrow afternoon, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “Nobody can guarantee anything when you have two parties in a negotiation.”
But the minister said he remained “confident” a deal could be reached “that makes our borders more secure, is good for jobs and growth, and brings people’s household bills down”.
“That is what is in our national interest and that’s what we will continue to do over these final hours,” he said.
“We have certainly been taking what I have called a ruthlessly pragmatic approach.”
On agricultural products, food and drink, Mr Thomas-Symonds said supermarkets were crying out for a deal because the status quo “isn’t working”, with “lorries stuck for 16 hours and food rotting” and producers and farmers unable to export goods because of the amount of “red tape”.
Asked how much people could expect to save on shopping as a result of the deal the government was hoping to negotiate, the minister was unable to give a figure.
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On the issue of fishing, asked if a deal would mean allowing French boats into British waters, the minister said the Brexit deal which reduced EU fishing in UK waters by a quarter over five years comes to an end next year.
He said the objectives now included “an overall deal in the interest of our fishers, easier access to markets to sell our fish and looking after our oceans”.
Turning to borders, the minister was asked if people would be able to move through queues at airports faster.
Again, he could not give a definitive answer, but said it was “certainly something we have been pushing with the EU… we want British people who are going on holiday to be able to go and enjoy their holiday, and not be stuck in queues”.
PM opens door to EU youth mobility scheme
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK on an agreement to facilitate youth mobility between the EU and the UK. The scheme would allow both UK and EU citizens aged between 18 and 30 years old to stay for up to four years in a country of their choosing.
Earlier this month, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Phillips a youth mobility scheme was not the approach the government wanted to take to bring net migration down.
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When this was put to him, Mr Thomas-Symonds insisted any deal on a youth mobility scheme with Europe will have to be “smart” and “controlled” and will be “consistent” with the government’s immigration policy.
Asked what the government had got in return for a youth mobility scheme – now there had been a change in approach – the minister said: “It is about an overall balanced package that works for Britain. The government is 100% behind the objective of getting net migration down.”
Phillips said more than a million young people came to the country between 2004 and 2015. “If there isn’t a cap – that’s what we are talking about,” he said.
The minister insisted such a scheme would be “controlled” – but refused to say whether there would be a cap.
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‘It’s going to be a bad deal’
Shadow cabinet office minister Alex Burghart told Phillips an uncapped youth mobility scheme with the EU would lead to “much higher immigration”, adding: “It sounds very much as though it’s going to be a bad deal.”
Asked if the Conservatives would scrap any EU deal, he said: “It depends what the deal is, Trevor. And we still, even at this late stage, we don’t know.
“The government can’t tell us whether everyone will be able to come. They can’t tell us how old the young person is. They can’t tell us what benefits they would get.
“So I think when people hear about a youth mobility scheme, they think about an 18-year-old coming over working at a bar. But actually we may well be looking at a scheme which allows 30-year-olds to come over and have access to the NHS on day one, to claim benefits on day one, to bring their extended families.”
He added: “So there are obviously very considerable disadvantages to the UK if this deal is done in the wrong way.”
Jose Manuel Barroso, former EU Commission president, told Phillips it “makes sense” for a stronger relationship to exist between the European Union and the UK, adding: “We are stronger together.”
He said he understood fishing and youth mobility are the key sticking points for a UK-EU deal.
“Frankly, what is at stake… is much more important than those specific issues,” he said.
Gary Lineker is to leave the BBC after this season’s final Match Of The Day and will no longer present its coverage of the World Cup, Sky News understands.
It comes after he “apologised unreservedly” for a social media repost featuring a rat – used in propaganda by Nazi Germany to dehumanise Jewish people – and said he would “never knowingly share anything antisemitic”.
Lineker’s last appearance on the BBC will be on 25 May, the final day of the season, with confirmation expected on Monday.
The former England star announced in November he would step down from Match Of The Day this year, but was set to return to front the World Cup in 2026, as well as FA Cup coverage.
Lineker, 64, said he was unaware the post he shared was antisemitic and it went against “everything I believe in”.
In response to the presenter resharing the post, the Campaign Against Antisemitism said his “continued association with the BBC is untenable”.
And when asked about Lineker last week, BBC director general Tim Davie said: “When someone makes a mistake, it costs the BBC reputationally.”
The presenter was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the then Conservative government’s asylum policy.
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Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day since 1999 and has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years. He also has a successful podcast production company.
Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan will share the role of presenting Match of the Day. Pic BBC/PA
Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan will take over the highlights show from next season.
When the trio take over as hosts, it will be the first time the role has been shared by three people.
Sky News has contacted the BBC for comment.
A teenager has been arrested after a 16-year-old boy died following reports of a “disturbance” at a beach in Ayrshire.
Kayden Moy was found seriously injured by officers at Irvine Beach at around 6.45pm on Saturday.
The teenager, from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, was taken to hospital but died in the early hours.
Police Scotland said on Sunday evening that a 17-year-old boy had been arrested and enquires were continuing.
Officers believe the incident may have been filmed and have urged witnesses and anyone with information to come forward.
Kayden. Pic: Facebook
The incident happened at Irvine Beach in Ayrshire, Scotland. File pic: iStock
Detective Chief Inspector Campbell Jackson said: “An extensive investigation is under way to establish the full circumstances surrounding this death.
“Our officers are supporting the boy’s family at this very difficult and heartbreaking time.
“From our investigation so far, we know there were a number of people on the beach around the time of the disturbance.
“We believe several of them were filming at the time and may have footage of what happened.
“I would urge people to review the footage they have and contact police if they think the footage captured could be of significance to our investigation.”
This can be submitted anonymously, the force said.
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Superintendent Jim McMillan added: “We understand this death will be of great concern for the local community, but please be assured that we are doing everything we can to identify those involved.
“There will be additional patrols in the area as we carry out our enquiries and anyone with any concerns can approach these officers.”
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