Chris Mason
Political editor

Hello from Parliament’s Portcullis House.

There is a school trip mentality to people’s greetings this morning – a sense that everything is the same but everything is different, with a Saturday sitting.

As cabinet ministers and their advisers are catching up on a nearby table, others have their children in tow – this weekend sitting also coinciding with the school holidays for many.

Let's look at some of the latest reaction from MPs ahead of the emergency debate in the House of Commons today.

Anna Turley, Labour MP for Redcar - which used to have blast furnaces of its own - says the action taken by the government today is a "vital step", while also describing it as a "bittersweet day".

Also speaking on his way to Parliament, Reform UK MP for Boston and Skegness Richard Tice says his party will be backing the government today.

"It's an important day... we need to fully nationalise British Steel," he says, calling on the government to go further.

Green MP Ellie Chowns said on Friday that nationalisation was "the only sure way to secure this strategically important sector so vital to national security and British jobs".

Elsewhere, Conservative MP for Brigg and Immingham Martin Vickers compared what could lie ahead for Scunthorpe to Grimsby after the end of the deep-sea fishing industry there.

“I am old enough to have witnessed the decline of Grimsby following the loss of its core industry: deep-sea fishing. Members across the house will have had similar experiences with towns that have lost their core industry, be it shipbuilding or mining, and it is a massive change," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

We can bring you the latest images of Prime Minister Keir Starmer departing No.10 Downing Street. He is making his way to Parliament for an emergency vote on the future of British Steel.

Stick with us for the key developments.

Image source, Getty Images

There are 1,160 businesses in the UK steel industry, directly supporting 40,000 other firms across the country, according to government figures., external

Tata Steel at Port Talbot in Wales was once the UK's largest virgin steel producer but it turned off its blast furnace in September 2024, saying it was losing £1.7m a day.

An agreement with the UK government was reached which saw it commit £500m to help the company move to greener forms of steelmaking.

Other steelmakers in the UK include Liberty Steel, Celsa, Marcegaglia and Outokumpu.

Liberty Steel also has a plant in Scunthorpe which is facing closure. More than 120 jobs are at risk, with bosses blaming high energy costs.

In 2023 the UK steel industry contributed £2.3 billion to the UK economy - equivalent to 0.1% of total UK economic output and 1.0% of manufacturing output.

In the same year, the UK produced 5.6 million tonnes of crude steel, or 0.3% of the world's total. In comparison, China produced more than 1,000 million tonnes, 54% of global production.

• Read more: Why is British Steel in trouble and who owns it?

Image source, Getty Images

It's just turned 10:00 in the London newsroom.

It's a big day for the future of British Steel as in an hour - at 11:00 BST - MPs will debate an emergency law in the House of Commons, with the aim of saving the Scunthorpe steel plant from imminent closure.

An hour later at 12:00, peers will then debate the bill in the House of Lords.

At 14:00, almost 200 miles north of Westminster, a march to save British steel will take place in Scunthorpe.

We'll be following all the events closely, and will be here with the latest updates.

Rajdeep Sandhu
Political Correspondent, BBC Scotland

Image source, PA Media

MPs are hot footing it back to Westminster, including from Scotland. Some are catching early flights, some were on trains yesterday.

One MP told me they found out about the recall in the media - which gives you an idea of the speed that this is all happening.

Talk of state support for steel has, for some, brought to mind the fate of the Grangemouth oil refinery -Scotland's only oil refinery. It is also a big industrial site with a long history, part-owned by a Chinese state company, making big losses - sound familiar?

Except, it hasn't elicited the same government reaction and is set to close. Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for the area, has previously called for nationalisation.

This morning he told BBC Radio Scotland there were “striking similarities between Scunthorpe and Grangemouth”. He’s calling on the prime minister to “recognise the strategic importance” of the oil refinery and intervene.

Similar calls for intervention are being made by the SNP with an added splash of independence rhetoric.

SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn poses the question: “Are industrial assets protected in England, but allowed to fall in Scotland?”

Leanne Brown
Reporting from Scunthorpe

The intervention by the prime minister has been welcomed by unions who’ve said they’ve never been so close to closure.

Workers have said they feel a bit more stable. They’ve had weeks of worry, morale has been low but they keep turning up for work.

We’ve seen the workers this morning and they’re just hoping they’ve still got a job to go to.

And some of those employees, along with the unions, will be walking to the town’s football ground this afternoon.

The team is called The Iron - which shows you how embedded the steel plant is in the local community.

They will be unveiling a banner on the pitch at half-time just to reiterate the message to the government of how important the site is.

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that the Labour government will do "everything possible" to stop the closure of blast furnaces at the Scunthorpe steel plant.

However, leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch has blamed the government's "incompetence" for the last-minute recall and accused Labour of having "bungled the negotiations".

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said it was "right that all options are on the table" and, due to Trump's tariffs and the war in Ukraine, "we can't afford to lose this strategically important industry".

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the government's plan was just a "short-term sticking plaster" and both he and the Green Party have called for public ownership as the only option.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, Reuters

A new opinion poll published this morning suggests a majority of people in Britain would support the nationalisation of British Steel.

The poll, by YouGov, asked: “Would you support or oppose the government nationalising British Steel?”

The results are: 57% either “strongly supported” or “somewhat supported” the idea, while only 9% either “somewhat opposed” or “strongly opposed” it.

And 33% said they did not know.

The strongest support for nationalisation comes from those who voted Labour at the last general election, the poll suggests, closely followed by Reform UK voters.

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

Image source, Getty Images

You've probably heard ministers again and again say "all options are on the table" - that's their get out of jail card where they don't commit to anything in case their preferred option suddenly disappears.

But, as MPs gather to vote on the next steps, a journey towards nationalisation certainly feels like the direction.

Two different sources who have been part of the wider discussions tell me the prime minister has come to believe that taking British Steel back into public hands is what the government will have to do. There are practical and political reasons for why that might come to pass.

First, for the government to have a hope of achieving its aims - building infrastructure, spending more on defence at home, growing the economy and protecting jobs - it is logical to preserve a steel industry in this country.

That's not just because ministers are loathe to see good jobs disappear. But because in government, the capacity to make steel is an important part of what the UK needs to be able to do.

If the plant closes, the UK would become the only G7 country without primary steel making capability. That wasn't something the government was willing to tolerate.

• Read more from Laura Kuenssberg's InDepth analysis here

Industry Minister Sarah Jones says the government believes the Chinese owner of the Scunthorpe plant has "not been acting in good faith".

The government made a "generous offer" to Chinese company Jingye to try to secure the future of the site, which was rejected, Jones tells BBC Breakfast this morning.

"Things have reached an existential point where the company is refusing to bring in the raw materials we need to keep the blast furnaces running," she adds. Jingye previously rejected this claim.

Jones says a transition in Scunthorpe is needed due to "old and ageing" assets.

"We believed a transition where Jingye and the government would put in investment was the right way forward and could see the company making profit again," she says.

Asked about the future of the plant and the potential for nationalisation, Jones says the government's preference is for a private partnership "where a private company can come in and invest alongside the government".

"We do not have that at the moment with Jingye," she adds, before saying there are no other private companies currently willing to invest in the site.

• As a reminder: Jingye says the blast furnaces are no longer sustainable, blaming "highly challenging" market conditions, tariffs and costs associated with transitioning to lower-carbon production techniques.

Image source, David McKenna/BBC

As negotiations between the government and British Steel continue, members of the local community in Scunthorpe are fighting to keep the steel plant going.

British Steel worker Tom Smith, who is campaigning to save the site, says Scunthorpe has "some of the best steelworkers in the world".

"We make the best grade of steel and every single one of us is passionate about it," he says, before adding: "Iron ore is the bedrock of this town. Every single person in this town has some connection to it."

Lynne Atkinson, a care worker and daughter of a former blast furnace engineer, has also taken up the campaign and started a Facebook page to draw attention to the town's fight to save the industry.

She believes the loss of the town's main employer will have serious ramifications for Britain's security.

"There are always going to be wars," she says. "It's going to leave [Britain] completely open."

"If something does happen, and we're reliant on imports from China for instance, they would immediately side with Russia and cut us off and we'd have no way of making steel. I think it's madness."

• You can read more here

Image source, Reuters

In a statement at Downing Street on Friday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not rule out nationalisation of British Steel's Scunthorpe plant, which is at risk of imminent closure.

Starmer reiterated that "all viable options" were on the table, when asked about the prospect of nationalisation.

As we've been reporting, the government is hoping to pass an emergency law today that would allow ministers to "take control" of the Lincolnshire site, according to Starmer.

The move opens the door to full nationalisation of the company at a later stage.

During his statement, Starmer described steelmaking as "essential for our future" and insisted the government will do "everything possible" to stop the closure of the blast furnaces at the plant.

Image source, Reuters

Talks to keep production rolling at British Steel's plant in Scunthorpe have been taking place this week, after the plant's owner said its blast furnaces were "no longer financially sustainable".

Chinese company Jingye, which bought British Steel in 2020, says it has invested more than £1.2bn in the company to maintain operations, but has been suffering financial losses of around £700,000 a day.

Supplies of raw material, which are needed to keep the site's two running blast furnaces going, are due to run out in the coming weeks.

The company also announced plans last month to shed jobs at the Scunthorpe site, which employs 2,700 people, blaming "highly challenging" market conditions, tariffs and costs associated with lower-carbon production techniques.

The government has offered £500m of support to partly fund a switch from blast furnaces to more energy efficient electric arc furnaces. But the offer has been rejected by the company.

The business department says the new law that parliament plans to pass today would give the government powers to order the necessary raw materials.

It adds the law would also allow ministers 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.

Neha Gohil
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Good morning. Welcome to our live coverage ahead of an emergency sitting of Parliament today aimed at saving British Steel's Scunthorpe plant from imminent closure.

MPs - who are currently on their Easter break - will return to Westminster for a hastily convened sitting as the government seeks to pass an emergency law that would give it the power to direct steel companies in England.

In a statement on Friday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the legislation would allow ministers to "take control" of the Lincolnshire site and stop its Chinese owner from closing its blast furnaces.

The blast furnaces at the plant are at risk of running out of raw materials within weeks, after owners Jingye said the plant was "no longer financially sustainable".

MPs will debate the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill from 11:00 BST today. If passed, the law could open the door to full nationalisation of the Scunthorpe plant at a later stage.

We'll keep you up to date with all the important analysis and key lines here, so stick with us.

We're going to pause our coverage for the evening, thank you very much for following along with us today.

We'll be back tomorrow reporting on the debate as MPs hammer out the details of an emergency law to save British Steel's plant in Scunthorpe from imminent closure.

In the meantime, here's what you need to know in brief:

• PM Keir Starmer will aim to pass an emergency law on Saturday to "take control" of British Steel's plant in Scunthorpe, which is running out of raw materials to make steel
• The potential closure of Scunthorpe's British Steel plant would be devastating for workers and their families, the GMB union says

• If passed, the new law will give power to Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to direct and control British Steel - and could allow nationalisation later down the line

• The PM and Reynolds expressed disappointment in British Steel's Chinese owner Jingye, which says it has been losing around £700,000 a day
• The Tories say the government is "scrambling for a solution", as both the Lib Dems and Reform UK say they support nationalisation

And until we return in the morning you can read the latest in our news story.

Let's bring you a bit more reaction now from some politicians who will presumable be in attendance in Westminster tomorrow.

Reform's leader Nigel Farage says Starmer is arranging a "short-term sticking plaster" to "counter the threat" of Reform UK.

"We will table an amendment to nationalise British Steel immediately," he adds in a post on X.

Labour's Rachel Reeves repeats an earlier line of Starmer's - that the Labour Government "will always act in the national interest."

"We are taking action to save British steel production and protect British jobs. We are securing Britain's future," she wrote on the same platform.

Conservative MP and member of the business and trade committee, John Cooper, says one of the key issues about the future of steel is whether or not the production of primary steel is critical to the UK.

This is a "difficult and complicated" question, he says.

"If you think it's vital, then we need to take some action," Cooper says, highlighting that the UK would be the only country in the G7 not to have steel production if the Scunthorpe plant were to close.

Cooper argues that a commercial deal whereby the government takes "some kind of golden share" would be a better option than nationalisation.

He also highlights that one of the difficulties with steel production is that the cost of energy is "ridiculously high".

The potential closure of Scunthorpe's British Steel plant would be devastating for workers and their families, the GMB union says, adding there is now a strong case for renationalising.

Paul Block told BBC News renationalisation would secure the future of his workers and that the country would be best served by public ownership.

He said the industry needs to be "turned round", but from a national defence infrastructure perspective the UK needs to be able to produce its own metals.

Image source, Jessica Taylor

Parliament has only sat on a Saturday five times since World War Two, which gives you an idea of the urgency of the emergency law.

The last time Parliament was recalled on a Saturday was on Saturday 10 September 2022, when the House of Lords gathered to pay tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The House of Commons also sat on Saturday 19 October 2019 to discuss former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's proposed Brexit deal.

Before that there hadn't been a Saturday sitting since 3 April 1982, which was one day after Argentinian forces landed on the Falkland Islands, leading to an emergency session for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Parliament was recalled over the Suez crisis on Saturday 3 November 1956.