The nationalisation of British Steel looks set to go forward after the UK government announced it will introduce legislation that will give it powers to bring the steelworks into public ownership, Kallanish learns.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer made the comments on Monday morning in a speech.
“Steel is the ultimate sovereign capability. Strong nations in a world like this need to make steel. That’s why we’re backing steel in Port Talbot and across the UK. But in Scunthorpe we’ve been negotiating with the current owner and a commercial sale has not been possible. And now a public interest test could be met,” he said.
“So, I can announce that legislation will be brought forward this week to give the government powers, subject to that public interest test, to take full national ownership of British Steel. Public ownership in the public interest,” Starmer added.
The public interest test considers factors including national security, maintaining critical national infrastructure and supporting the economy.
The government notes in a statement that it does not believe an agreement could be reached with the current owners which would deliver acceptable value for money for taxpayers.
The new legislation will be part of the King’s Speech, which will take place on Wednesday.
The statement adds that “primary legislation would give Government a route to safeguard UK steelmaking capacity and avoid sudden halt of production at Scunthorpe, while it considers options for British Steel to help deliver on government’s Steel Strategy ambitions.”
The UK government took control of the Scunthorpe works on 12 April 2025, and had spent at least £419 million ($570m) on working capital, raw materials and salaries as of March 2026.
