UK government to bring British Steel into public ownership

The UK government says British Steel is set to be brought into public ownership, after announcing plans to introduce legislation this week.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the move would give ministers powers to take full ownership of the company, subject to a public interest test.

The announcement follows the government's seizure of British Steel's Scunthorpe steelworks from its Chinese owners Jingye in April last year.

That intervention was made to halt the potential closure of the plant's blast furnaces.

Sir Keir said talks had been held with Jingye, but that a commercial sale had not been possible.

The latest step would move the company from temporary state control towards full public ownership.

The decision matters because British Steel is a strategic industrial asset and the Scunthorpe site remains central to the UK's steelmaking capacity.

The government has framed the move as a response to the failure of private sale options.

The Scunthorpe plant has been at the centre of concern since the earlier takeover, when ministers acted to prevent the furnaces being shut down.

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