UK government fully nationalises British Steel

The UK government has announced it will fully nationalise British Steel, with legislation to be introduced this week in the King's Speech to give ministers powers to take full ownership of the loss-making steelmaker. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the move in a speech, stating that the government had held talks with Chinese owner Jingye but that a "commercial sale has not been possible" and that "public ownership is in the public interest." The announcement comes a year after the government seized control of British Steel's Scunthorpe plant in April 2024 to prevent the closure of its blast furnaces, which are the last two remaining in the United Kingdom. The Scunthorpe site employs around 3,500 workers, with tens of thousands more jobs supported in the extended steel supply chain. Network Rail sources approximately 95% of its track from the plant. The industry body UK Steel welcomed the announcement, with director-general Gareth Stace describing it as providing "vital certainty" for the 2,700 workforce and the company's customers, while emphasising that nationalisation is "not an end goal" and must be accompanied by "a clear and credible long-term plan" and investment strategy. The cost to taxpayers of keeping British Steel running had reached £377 million by January 2025, with estimates suggesting this could exceed £1.5 billion by 2028 if current trends continue. The King's Speech on Wednesday will set out the government's legislative agenda following a disastrous set of local election results for Labour. The British Steel nationalisation forms part of a broader package of measures, which also includes legislation on energy independence, water regulation reform, policing mergers, voting age reduction to 16, and various economic measures. The original British Steel was created in 1967 when Harold Wilson's Labour government nationalised more than a dozen private companies, before being privatised and broken up by Margaret Thatcher's administration.