Reform UK MP Richard Tice has called for the immediate nationalisation of British Steel.
Speaking on GB News, the party’s former leader was looking ahead to the Commons and the Lords both breaking from Easter recess for a highly rare sitting.
MPs will debate a Bill aimed at blocking British Steel’s Chinese owners, Jingye, from closing blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant.
Tice told Christopher Hope he is concerned about the process of nationalisation dragging on and Reform are tabling an amendment as a result.
Richard Tice wants British Steel nationalised immediately
GB NEWS
“If you’re going to do a job, do it properly”, he said.
“I’ve got a badge here that says, ‘Save Our Steel’. I’ve been up twice to Scunthorpe this week and we know that you can make a long term viable business out of this.
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Richard Tice spoke to Christopher Hope
GB NEWS
“It’s in the national interest. I’m saying to the Government, don’t shilly-shally, don’t mess around, get on with it.
“Do the job properly. Put all the uncertainty out of the mind. Help the 3,000 plus families who are living day by day in fear and terror of losing their jobs.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned the future of the firm “hangs in the balance” and his party hopes to use taxpayer money to provide materials to the steelwork and open the door to a transfer of ownership.
Saturday’s emergency legislation will also provide for criminal sanctions if executives fail to comply with instructions to keep the blast furnaces open.
British Steel in ScunthorpeGB NEWSJingye, which bought British Steel in 2020, has said it invested more than £1.2 billion to maintain operations amid ongoing production instability and “significant” financial losses of around £700,000 a day.
The proposals to close Scunthorpe’s furnaces had sparked fears of job losses at the plant, which employs thousands of people.
Saturday’s legislation is intended to provide an urgent temporary solution in the face of the threat to close the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe until a longer-term plan is agreed, and full nationalisation remains an option.
Unions welcomed the move but Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused Labour of having “bungled the negotiations” and said “their incompetence has led to a last-minute recall of Parliament”.
It is the first parliamentary recall on a Saturday since 1982, when MPs returned after the start of the Falklands War.
