British Steel owner faces calls to halt 'unacceptable' plan to cut 800 jobs

02 February 2023 , 12:47

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Fears are growing for hundreds of posts at British Steel (Image: Courtesy of British Steel)

British Steel bosses were today urged to continue rescue talks with the Government amid plans to axe 800 hundred jobs.

Business Minister Nusrat Ghani told MPs a "generous package of support" was under discussion with the manufacturing company, amid fears of redundancies at its plant at Scunthorpe, Lincs.

Scunthorpe MP Holly Mumby-Croft said British Steel, owned by Chinese giant Jingye, should "immediately reconsider" the potential redundancies.

"Jingye sat down yesterday with the unions and talked about laying off 800 British Steel workers,” she said in an emergency Commons debate.

"I cannot and will not defend this decision which is unacceptable in every possible way for my constituents.

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"This is not a way to behave, it sends entirely the wrong message and breaches the spirit of negotiations, which I believe are the result of a level of government focus on steel and its wider issues, including energy and carbon costs, that are genuinely encouraging for the industry.

Business Minister Nusrat Ghani (Department for Transport)

"Hundreds of families in Scunthorpe are now worried sick wondering if and when they will lose their jobs."

Blasting the firm’s warning of job losses, Ms Ghani said: "It is peculiar for this conversation to take place while we're in the middle of good negotiations and as negotiations involve substantial taxpayers' money.

"These are sensitive negotiations, (but) I don't think it is inappropriate for me to say, of course, Government would want some assurances and guarantees that are linked to jobs too."

She added: "I would urge British Steel to continue discussions to help us secure its future in the UK."

British Steel workers at Scunthorpe are fearing for their livelihoods

Jingye Group became the manufacturer's third owner in four years when it bought British Steel out of insolvency in 2020.

But Jingye has warned it needs taxpayer funding to keep operating.

A British Steel spokesman said: “Unfortunately, like many other businesses, we are reluctantly having to consider cost-cutting in light of the global recession and increased costs.

“We have discussed this in preliminary talks with the trade unions in which we shared the challenges we face.

The Mirror has been campaigning to Save Our Steel since 2015

“We look forward to working closely with them to ensure a long-term safe and sustainable future for the company, thousands of employees and many more people in our supply chain.”

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Last month, 440 jobs at Liberty Steel were plunged into jeopardy.

Writing exclusively for mirror.co.uk, Liberty Steel’s chief transformation officer Jeff Kabel warned a “revolution” was needed to save an industry “on life support”.

The UK steel industry employs 34,500 staff directly and supports another 43,000 in supply chains.

The Mirror has been campaigning to Save Our Steel since 2015.

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Ben Glaze