MPs are set to debate emergency legislation to keep the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe open in a move that would pave the way for nationalisation.
The rare Saturday sitting of parliament will come after Jingye, the steelwork’s Chinese owner, cancelled orders for the raw materials needed to keep the UK’s last blast furnaces running.
Jingye also rejected a £500m state rescue package in a move which raised fresh doubts about the 3,500 jobs at the Lincolnshire plant – with it feared the site would be forced to close as early as next week.
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Here we speak to current employees of the steelworks about how they feel about the uncertainty over its future.
‘A lot of anxiety on the steelworks’
Steve, who did not give his surname, works for British Steel and believes it’s important for the plant to be taken into public ownership.
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He said: “If the government doesn’t step up and nationalise British steel in some form, they’re basically sending us back down to the Stone Age.
“We will not be in a position where we can produce pure iron, pure steel, with all the conflicts going on in the world and all the rest of it.
“And if you don’t have them furnaces, you’re going to be tied to a barrel with the rest of the world charging you what they want to charge you to produce steel.“
He added: “I don’t believe the Chinese have got any interest in keeping the place open.”
Steve said as an employee he has seen “a lot of anxiety on the steelworks” and continued: “A lot of people are worried about losing their houses, their mortgages… it’s not a good situation to be in at the moment.”
‘We’ve been through a lot of turmoil’
Steve Woodcock, a lead engineer at the steelworks, said the “Chinese need to go” and the government should nationalise the plant.
He said: “The government need to step in, start leading it from the front and then we can move forward. The country needs us… We want to be there for the country.
“We’ve been let down I think by a lot of companies over the years… we have been through a lot of turmoil over the years… so the government definitely need to step in.”
Asked how he feels about the future of his job, he said: “I don’t want anybody to lose their job. We’ve got a lot of skilled people and that’s why I want it to stay like that. I’m passionate about the business, as everybody that works there that I know is.
“I don’t want to get a job elsewhere. I enjoy the job that I do there.”
‘A really scary situation’
Martin Grimbleby has worked at the plant for 20 years and is concerned about losing his job.
He continued: “I’ve got a young family… They’re saying to me ‘what’s going to happen, dad, if the place shuts?’ Are we going to have to move house?’
“It’s just a really scary situation. I’m at an age where I don’t want to be going to go for another interview or anything like that.
“To me, it was a job for life and it was a job for me to look after my family.
“My father worked there before me, I just don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Asked what he thinks the impact would be if the plant had to close, he replied: “It would destroy this place.
“It might as well be a waste site after that. Once the steelworks shuts, that is it. There’s nothing left of Scunthorpe after the steelworks. In my opinion, nothing.”
Mr Grimbleby also believes the best thing for the plant for now is “pure government nationalisation”.
Scunthorpe ‘as a town will end’ if plant closes
Steve Brown does not work at the plant but said he knows a lot of retired former employees who are “devastated” about the problems facing the steelworks.
He also knows apprentices who are learning their trade at the plant and added: “They’re 18 to 20 years old – it’s devastating for them because if it closes, which I understand it’s not going to because I’ve heard the government is going to take it on and nationalise it, but if they don’t, Scunthorpe as a town will end.”
Mr Brown added he thinks it’s a shame the legislation being debated on Saturday stops short of full nationalisation.
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He continued: “It’s not just the steelworkers… it’s all the companies that support them and rely on their business.“
Mr Brown added he was “devastated” when Jingye took over the steelworks and he does not think it “should ever have happened”.
He said: “I said from day one that all the Chinese want to do is learn how to make brilliant steel, like we’ve always done in Scunthorpe, and as soon as they learn how to do it, take it back to China and close British Steel down – and that’s exactly what’s happening, because imported steel is rubbish.”
