Government ministers are contemplating renationalising British Steel if funding negotiations with Chinese owners Jingye Group collapse, according to a report in The Telegraph.
Jingye Group wants hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer money to build greener electric arc furnaces in Scunthorpe and Teesside.
The closure of blast furnaces in Scunthorpe has placed 2,500 jobs at risk, mirroring similar events at Tata Steel-owned steelmaking operations in Port Talbot.
To stave off major job losses should a funding agreement not materialise, the government could take part of all of British Steel into public ownership.
The Whitehall insider was quoted as stating: “It is one of several options being looked at. We would have been negligent not to look at it.
“But it is the least attractive option. We would be talking substantial sums of money to buy not very much.”
Tory ministers have voiced opposition to renationalisation, which would reverse the decision made by Margaret Thatcher to privatise the business in 1988.
Trade Union GMB supports renationalisation, with national officer Charlotte Brumpton-Childs stating: “Recent history has shown we must retain control over crucial industries like steel. Leaving domestic production to the whims of the open market is sheer folly.
“Rather than forking out billions of taxpayer cash to reward private sector failure, the money should be used to renationalise our once proud steel sector.”
Jingye Group bought British Steel and brought it out of receivership in 2020.