Just a few days after the government used emergency powers to take British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant under its control, there are now calls for a review into Chinese investment in UK infrastructure amid claims the Chinese owners intentionally tried to sabotage British Steel to force the UK to depend on Chinese imports instead.
The government took the drastic step of taking control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant over the weekend after enacting emergency legislation that was rushed through Parliament in a single day.
The business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told MPs that the likely next step would be to nationalise the Scunthorpe plant.
The government say they were forced to seek emergency powers to stop the Chinese owners, Jingype, from shutting down the two blast furnaces, which would have ended primary steel production in the UK.
Since the shocking intervention from the British government, the UK headlines are assessing what could happen next with calls for the plant to be nationalised, rivals looking to buy the plant and fears the Chinese owners are trying to sabotage the site to force Britain to rely on cheap Chinese imports.
The last operational blast furnaces in Britain face imminent closure as Jingye, the owner of British Steel, has halted future orders of essential materials required for production.
Copyright WTX News 2025