Sir John Redwood shares 'worry' for taxpayer as British Steel scraps redundancies: 'We need nationalisation!'

British Steel's interim chief commercial officer Lisa Coulson confirmed the decision to end the redundancy consultation without action.

"This has been a difficult and worrying time for British Steel staff and their families," she said.

The announcement comes after the government took control of the firm in April.

It follows confirmation of a stable supply of raw materials and the appointment of new leadership at British Steel.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• The government's hatred of coal and love of electricity is killing UK industry - Sir John Redwood
• Nigel Farage renews British Steel plea as Parliament recalled - 'It's the only option we have!'
• 'No logic!' Labour scolded by top Tory over plans to nationalise British Steel: 'We need that steel!'

Speaking to GB News, Redwood said: "We need strategic industries. It was wrong to have plans to kill off all our virgin steelmaking and replace it with electric arc furnaces.

"My worry is that this is simply a convenience to get Labour through May 1 and some difficult elections in the area.

"I'd like to know how long the promise to these workers is that these jobs will be supported by large amounts of taxpayer money because I believe their plan is still to close the blast furnaces and replace them with electric arc furnaces.

"These are far less job-intensive and will mean we don't have the full spectrum of capabilities when it comes to the qualities of steel we can produce without relying on imports.

"There’s no substitute, in my view, for a proper agreement with the existing owners to resolve this, because there's a lot of confusion over who pays the bills and who covers the costs when the Chinese finally pull out.

"We need a proper nationalization plan, and there's currently a lack of clarity about where they intend to find the private capital.

"These are very old blast furnaces, and they haven't been relined anytime recently. Relining is a major job, you have to shut the furnace down and completely rebuild the interior. It's expensive and significantly disrupts production.

"What are the plans for that? Because if there are no serious plans for relining, then they’re not actually committed to keeping these blast furnaces long-term.

"And why are we still not getting an accurate estimate, or at least a best estimate, from the Treasury on what this is going to cost?

"They should know. They've been poring over the company’s books ever since they came into power."