A BLAST CHANCE

THE Government seized control of British Steel yesterday as Parliament voted in a last-gasp bid to save our two remaining blast furnaces.

- BY MIKEY SMITH Deputy Political Editor

The historic Bill stops short of fully nation-alising the firm but allows the government to step in and ensure the furnaces at the Scunthorpe steelworks do not “go cold”, effectively scuppering them.

The emergency sitting meant recalling MPs to Parliament on a Saturday for the first time since 1982, after Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands.

And it came after a dramatic standoff at the North Lincolnshire plant yesterday morning between workers and executives from British Steel's Chinese owners Jingye.

Staff reportedly stepped in to block bosses from accessing key areas of the plant. Humberside police were called and forced the Chinese delegation “into a hasty retreat”.

In the debate, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds accused Jingye of failing to nego-tiate in good faith. He suggested the firm was effectively trying to extort hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money from the government - with no conditions to stop the money being transferred to China.

Mr Reynolds told MPs: “We could not, will not and never will stand idly by while heat seeps from the UK's remaining blast furnaces without planning, or respect for, the conse quences. That is why I needed colleagues here today.”

Mr Reynolds said Labour had been in negotiations with Jingye since coming to power and offered “substantial” support.