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British Steel's owners could face 'criminal consequences', minister warns amid claims firm is 'not acting in good faith'
12 April 2025, 08:59 | Updated: 12 April 2025, 13:25
British Steel's Chinese owners could face "criminal consequences" if they fail to comply with the Government, a Labour minister has warned.
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Speaking exclusively with LBC, Industry Minister Sarah Jones told Ben Kentish the Government had offered Jingye, the firm's Chinese owners, a "generous" deal funded by the taxpayer but insisted the firm continued to act in "bad faith".
"We were acting in good faith and the company we believed were also acting in good faith. We wanted to secure a deal with them," the Labour minister told LBC.
"It was a significant offer of taxpayers' money for that. What has changed is this bad faith act of not bringing in the raw materials for the blast furnaces. And we have responded by introducing legislation which gives the Secretary of State powers to intervene."
MPs are set to return to Parliament today to vote on whether to bring British Steel under Government control - a move that marks the first Saturday sitting since the Falklands War.
It comes as details of the bill surfaced ahead of the parliamentary recall, with the draft outlining that any member of the Chinese firm failing to comply with government orders could risks two years in prison.
The bill also gives permission for the government to pay salaries, make orders and appoint officers, in addition to allowing the Business Secretary to enter the British Steel premises.
Industry minister Sarah Jones joins Ben Kentish | Watch in full
The bill also orders that steel continue to be produced until details of the company's future are ironed out.
Speaking on Saturday, Sarah Jones warned that "there will be criminal consequences if the company does not do what we ask them to do".
The decision to recall parliament on Saturday is a bid to pass emergency legislation which could pave the way for the nationalisation of British Steel.
"That is not the end of the situation," she warned.
"We will have the powers to intervene on these assets to keep them open and there will be criminal consequences if the company do not do what we ask them to do. And the conversation today enables us to keep the plant open, save British Steel and keep our options open for what comes next".
Both the Commons and the Lords will break from Easter recess this morning - a highly unusual Saturday sitting that will see politicians and peers debate a Bill aimed at blocking the company’s Chinese owners from closing blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant.
The plans would see taxpayer money used to provide materials to the steelworks.
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The recall could open the door to a transfer ownership of the firm, after Sir Keir Starmer warned the future of the firm “hangs in the balance”.
It comes as one MP suggested British Steel owner Jingye was not negotiating “in good faith” about saving the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe.
Sarah Jones said on Saturday: “We have been negotiating with the owners of British Steel to try and secure a way forward.
She added: “We made a very generous offer to them, which has been rejected."
"We have been acting throughout this period in good faith, but we believe that in recent times the company have not been acting in good faith."
The parliamentary recall has led many to question whether todays measures act as a 'holding pattern' until the government finds a solution that could save the firm without nationalisation.
Questions have also been raised on the impact on the taxpayer of saving British Steel - with the firm's Chinese owners claiming the plant is making "significant" losses, haemorrhaging in the region of £700,000 a day.
Ministers hope to secure a private partner to open up co-investment options for a transition but urgent temporary action was seen as necessary to keep the plant running until longer-term plans are agreed.
Speaking on Friday, Sir Keir Starmer told Downing Street the emergency recalls it so "protect" British steelmaking.
He said he "will also act in the national interest to protect British jobs and British workers".
"This afternoon, the future of British Steel hangs in the balance," Sir Keir said."Jobs, investment, growth. Our economic and national security are all on the line."
The Commons sitting will begin at 11am and the House of Lords from midday in the first parliamentary recall on a Saturday since 1982, when MPs returned after the start of the Falklands War.
Job loss fears at British Steel
Other significant recalls during recent years included a midweek sitting during the summer recess in August 2021 to debate the evacuation from Afghanistan.
In a letter to MPs shared with the PA news agency, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he was satisfied the “public interest” requires the recall to debate the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill.
Jingye, which bought British Steel in 2020, has said it invested more than £1.2 billion to maintain operations amid ongoing production instability.
The Government says the new law would allow it to order raw materials for Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces amid fears supplies are on the brink of running out.
Ministers would be able to direct the company’s board and workforce, and ensure anyone at the plant “who takes steps to keep it running, against the orders of the Chinese ownership” can be reinstated if they are sacked.
The proposals to close Scunthorpe’s furnaces had sparked fears of job losses at the plant, which employs thousands of people.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Jingye had confirmed the plans despite months of talks and a £500 million co-investment offer from Government, leaving ministers “no choice” but to act to spare job losses and save the plant.
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.”
Liberal Democrat Sir Ed Davey called the debate an opportunity to advance “a serious plan for the sustainable future of domestic steel production” while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reiterated his backing for nationalisation.
