No guarantee British Steel blast furnaces will be saved

Specific details not given as Scunthorpe plant awaits fate

- KATE DEVLIN

The business secretary has refused to guarantee that the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe will get enough raw materials in time to keep its crucial blast furnaces running.

Jonathan Reynolds also said he would not sell the business to another Chinese owner as he indicated there is now a “high trust bar” for Chinese companies to meet before they will be allowed to invest in sensitive UK industries.

On Saturday the government pushed through emergency legislation to take control of British Steel, with Mr Reynolds warning MPs that once blast furnaces run out of raw materials, they can never be turned back on. A day later he said he would not “make my situation or the nation’s situation more difficult” by commenting on specific commercial details.

He told the BBC’s