Royal Navy 'on alert' to escort Scunthorpe fuel shipments after Government seizes control of British Steel
13 April 2025, 07:59 | Updated: 13 April 2025, 08:04
The Royal Navy is said to be 'on alert' to escort vital fuel shipment's to British Steel's Scunthorpe plant after the government passed emergency legislation on Saturday to take control of the plant.
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Senior sources say ministers could send Royal Navy vessels to escort the vital fuel shipments required to keep the Scunthorpe plant's blast furnaces amid fears of interception.
The government is said to be considering the extraordinary measure amid growing global political tensions.
On Saturday Sir Keir Starmer claimed the UK is "turning the page on a decade of decline" after a bill to save British Steel passed into law on Saturday.
Emergency legislation giving the Government the power to instruct British Steel to keep the plant open passed both the Commons and Lords in a single day unopposed on Saturday, before receiving Royal assent from King Charles.
Ministers had taken the unusual step of recalling Parliament from its Easter recess to sit on Saturday after negotiations with British Steel's Chinese owners, Jingye, appeared to break down.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds accused the company of failing to negotiate "in good faith" after it decided to stop buying enough raw materials to keep the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe going.
He told MPs: "We could not, will not and never will stand idly by while heat seeps from the UK's remaining blast furnaces without any planning, any due process or any respect for the consequences.
The latest measures to involve the armed forces, as reported in The Sunday Times, comes as the location and details of the fuel shipment, thought to be coking coal, are yet to be formally confirmed.
The fuel is essential to the running of the plant, with its current Chinese owners in dispute with the Government over the fuelling of the blast furnaces.
Allowing the blast furnaces to stop working would see steel solidify, resulting in irreversible damage to the plant.
Industry minister Sarah Jones joins Ben Kentish | Watch in full
Allowing the plant's closure would have killed the UK’s last domestic source of “virgin” steel - a pure variety of metal predominantly used to build rail tracks as well as used in the construction and automotive industries.
Starmer said on Saturday: "Today, my government has stepped in to save British Steel. We are acting to protect the jobs of thousands of workers, and all options are on the table to secure the future of the industry."
He said that "delivering security and renewal for working people" was at the heart of Labour's agenda, adding that he was "turning the page on a decade of decline".
‘We must nationalise British steel,’ Reform’s Richard Tice says
But the Conservatives said the Government should have acted sooner, with shadow leader of the House Alex Burghart accusing ministers of making "a total pig's breakfast of this whole arrangement".
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said the Government was seeking a "blank cheque", while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claimed Labour had "botched" a deal she had negotiated with British Steel while business secretary.
But she was unable to provide details of the deal, saying negotiations were still ongoing when last year's election was called, but adding it "would have succeeded better" than Mr Reynolds's plan.
Opening Saturday's debate, Mr Reynolds said Labour had been engaged in negotiations with Jingye since the party came to power last July, and had offered "substantial" support.
Most recently, the Government had offered to purchase the necessary raw materials for the blast furnaces, the last primary steel-making facilities in the UK, but this had been met with a counter offer from Jingye demanding "an excessive amount" of support.
Mr Reynolds continued: "Over the last few days, it became clear that the intention of Jingye was to refuse to purchase sufficient raw material to keep the blast furnaces running - in fact, their intention was to cancel and refuse to pay for existing orders.
"The company would therefore have irrevocably and unilaterally closed down primary steelmaking at British Steel."
While MPs debated the legislation, The Times newspaper reported that workers at the Scunthorpe plant had prevented Chinese executives from Jingye from gaining access to key areas of the steelworks.
The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill published on Saturday gives the Government the power to instruct steel companies in England to keep facilities open, with criminal penalties for executives if they fail to comply.
Ministers said these measures were necessary to keep the Scunthorpe blast furnaces open and protect both the UK's primary steelmaking capacity and the 3,500 jobs involved.
Mr Reynolds said the emergency legislation was a "proportionate and necessary step", adding he wanted it to be a "temporary position" with the powers not lasting "any minute longer than is necessary".
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer met with steelworkers near Scunthorpe to discuss his Government's plans for the plant.
The Prime Minister told them: "You are the people who have kept this going. You and your colleagues for years have been the backbone of British Steel, and it's really important that we recognise that."
Saturday's emergency legislation stops short of full nationalisation of British Steel, and ministers remain hopeful that they can secure private investment to save the plant.
But there is currently no private company willing to invest in British Steel, and the Business Secretary acknowledged to the Commons that public ownership remained the "likely option".
During Saturday's debate, Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice urged the Government to "show your cojones" and go further by fully nationalising British Steel "this weekend".
Several Conservative MPs also spoke in favour of nationalisation, while Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said recalling Parliament had been "absolutely the right thing to do".
Meanwhile, the Government has been criticised for acting to save the Scunthorpe plant but not taking the same action when the Tata Steel works in Port Talbot were threatened with closure.
Liberal Democrat Wales spokesman David Chadwick said workers in South Wales "will be asking themselves how this unjust situation was ever allowed to occur".
Earlier, industry minister Sarah Jones said the different approach was due to Tata's willingness to invest in Port Talbot, and the changed global circumstances making it necessary to protect the UK's primary steelmaking capacity.
