Browsing: UK government

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.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said the UK’s 2050 net zero target, a legally binding commitment established by a previous Conservative government, is “impossible.” Badenoch argued that achieving net zero by 2050 would necessitate “a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us,” but did not offer an alternative plan.

Monday’s headlines are heavily dominated by politics with planned changes to the UK’s welfare system expected to be unveiled later this week. 

Many publications offer their assessment of the planned changes as Labour’s left prepares to mount a rebellion, and Conservative and Tory-supporting media praise the Labour government’s move. The exact details of the changes will be set out by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz on Tuesday.

Newcastle’s emphatic 2-1 win over Liverpool leads much of the English news as the Toons see their first silverware in 70 years and Eddie Howe becomes the first English manager to win an English cup since 2008.