Labor pledges £3bn to support steel industry as 2,000 job cuts loom

Keir Starmer reaffirmed his party's commitment to the steel industry during a visit to the Tata steel plant in Port Talbot. Photo: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Sir Keir met representatives of the three main steel unions — Community, GMB and Unite — during his visit to Port Talbot.

He said: “If we can deliver Our mission to create clean energy by 2030 will require more steel — and that's why we want steel demand to grow.»

“Of course we need to switch to green steel. But we must make this transition very carefully, protecting the jobs, skills and history we have here in South Wales. Connecting and connecting that to the future, which is green steel.

“So we've had productive discussions this morning about what I think is going to be a very bright future for steel. But only with strategic thinking.”

A government spokesman confirmed it was already in talks with Jingye and said: “Our commitment to the UK steel sector is clear, including the announcement of a major package of support for energy costs and government funding to enable greener steel production by Tata Steel in Port Talbot .

“We continue to work closely with industry, including British Steel, to ensure a sustainable and competitive future for the UK steel industry.”

British Steel is headquartered at 2000 Scunthorpe plant in Lincolnshire and its main iron and steel operations. Its four blast furnaces produce around three million tonnes of steel a year — about half of the UK's total.

The company also has rolling mills in Teesside and Skinningrove in the UK and Alblasserdam in the Netherlands.

A British Steel spokesman said the company was committed to making British Steel a “green and sustainable company”. He added: “As part of our journey to net zero, it is prudent to evaluate different operational scenarios.”