Stuart Harratt
BBC News

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of British Steel's announcement, let's just recap what we've learned so far today:

• British Steel is to close the last two working blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant
• Unions estimate it will affect up between 1,500 and 2,000 workers, predominantly at Scunthorpe
• Two new electric arc furnaces will be built, one in Scunthorpe and one in Teesside, which are much greener, but require a lot fewer workers
• British Steel says the new furnaces could be operational by late 2025
• The company, which is owned by China's Jingye Group, say its £1.25bn proposal would make it "a clean, green and sustainable business"
• The government says it has offered British Steel "a generous support package including more than £300m of investment"
• Scunthorpe MP Holly Mumby-Croft says the announcement is "causing a lot of anxiety across the entire community" and any government support for British Steel must "come with conditions"
• Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen says a new furnace will see Teesside "restored to its rightful place as a global leader in the steel industry"

To read our in-depth story on the announcement please click here.

Labour's shadow business secretary has described the proposals as "not a serious joined up plan for the long term for our steel industry".

Jonathan Reynolds MP said: "The Conservatives’ sticking plaster plans would leave the UK unable to produce any primary steel products right at the time when the entire world will be demanding these goods for the net zero transition.

"While it is positive to see steel-making return to Redcar, it's an admission that it should never have ended in 2015.

"Labour knows that the British steel industry can have bright future. Labour has a cast iron commitment to the steel industry, a decade of investment working with steel communities to ensure the transition to green steel comes with jobs.

"While the Conservatives write blank cheques with no job guarantees to Chinese state-owned companies, Labour will offer the whole industry, UK wide approach that is needed to ensure the transition backs our fantastic steelworkers."

Martin Foster, the Unite convenor for British Steel, has been speaking to BBC Look North about the impact of today's announcement.

"It's bad enough for me having to deal with it as a union official but for the guys on site it's soul destroying," he said.

"A lot of people will have suspected this was coming. These guys are not stupid, they know how to make steel and they know what it means bringing electric arc furnaces in.

"They will be despondent I would suspect. The problem we will have is that now they made the announcement it's two years down the line before these electric arc furnaces come in and we need to retain people between now and then."

Ian Reeve
BBC Look North business correspondent

The gloom settling over Scunthorpe is in contrast to the buoyant mood on Teesside.

Many thought when the Thai company SSI closed the Redcar steelworks in 2015 - with the loss of 2,000 jobs - that was the final chapter in 170 years of steelmaking.

But a new electric arc furnace to be built by British Steel will return the industry to the area.

It’s believed the government has offered about £250m to the Teesside project.

The plant will produce about a million tonnes of steel a year and employ about 250 people - a less labour-intensive process than in a traditional blast furnace.

The arc furnace will be built within the grounds of British Steel’s Lackenby beam mill.

It currently takes Scunthorpe-produced steel and shapes it into girders for use in construction.

The new furnace should provide continuity of work for the mill and its 700 employees.

Another plant at Skinningrove in East Cleveland will also take Lackenby-made steel.

The jobs of 250 people there also possibly more secure.

Image source, Getty Images

October 2013 - About 340 jobs lost in Scunthorpe, as then owners Tata Steel blames weak demand in the construction industry

October 2015 - 900 job losses announced at Scunthorpe

April 2016 -Tata Steel begins the sale of its loss-making UK plants

April 2016 - UK-based investment firm Greybull Capital signs deal to safeguard more than 4,000 jobs at Scunthorpe and plough up to £400m into the plant. It also revives the name British Steel

14 May 2019 - British Steel seeks more help from government to address "Brexit-related issues"

22 May 2019 - Company is placed in compulsory liquidation, putting 5,000 jobs at risk

August 2019 - Turkey's military pension fund reaches a deal to buy British Steel, it later stalls

March 2020 - Chinese-owned Jingye Group completes takeover, promising "a new illustrious chapter" in British steelmaking

June 2022 - An £80m investment programme for Scunthorpe plant welcomed as a "game-changer"

1 February 2023 - Jingye describes discussions over a £300m government support package as "unsatisfactory"

21 February 2023 - Closure of Scunthorpe coking ovens announced with the loss of about 300 jobs

6 November 2023 - British Steel confirms plans to close down its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, putting up to 2,000 jobs at risk.

Scunthorpe's Conservative MP Holly Mumby-Croft has said she does not support the closure plan and has made her opposition "clear to Ministers and to the PM".

Image source, UK Parliament

"I am the granddaughter of a steelworker," she said.

"The steelworks is at the heart of our community and employs almost 3,500 people.

"This announcement is causing a lot of anxiety across the entire community – not just among those directly employed who are now concerned about their jobs but also throughout the supply chain and local economy."

She added: "British Steel is privately owned and free to make business decisions.

"But if they want hundreds of millions of pounds of government support then the government should use that investment to secure steel jobs and our sovereign capability to produce steel using blast furnaces.

"I stand absolutely with steelworkers and our community and will continue to challenge the government on what I believe is right, not just for our area but for the UK’s ability to make its own steel."

Ms Mumby-Croft continued: "Any support that the government decides to provide to British Steel must be come with conditions.

"There must be reassurances on jobs, and a pledge to retain virgin steelmaking capabilities while we explore ways to run blast furnaces in a greener way."

Kevin Shoesmith
BBC News in Scunthorpe

Back in Scunthorpe, I meet John Atkinson who worked as a blacksmith at the steel plant for more than 34 years.

He recalled finishing school on a Friday and starting work on the following Monday.

The 76-year-old spent his entire working life at the steel works, until he retired 15 years ago.

He said the closure would "cripple the town".

"I think it's a disgrace," he said.

"So I hope they do keep steelworks going for the young lads who's got mortgages, cars, families.

"It's going to affect everybody, not just the steel workers, it's the shops, everything."

The announcement of plans for an electric arc furnace on Teesside comes eight years after the closure of the Redcar steelworks following the collapse of SSI.

The plant closed in 2015 and its structures have been pulled down (pictured below) to make way for the Teesworks development.

A planning application for the furnace at Lackenby, Redcar, will be submitted in mid-November, with construction expected to begin in mid-2024. It is scheduled that the plant to start operating in 2025.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the construction would see Teesside "restored to its rightful place as a global leader in the steel industry".

Image source, TEES VALLEY COMBINED AUTHORITY/TOM BANKS

A steel-making expert has expressed concern over job losses and uncertainty in Scunthorpe, but said the return of steelmaking to Teesside was “great news” for the area.

Chris McDonald leads the UK’s national innovation centre for steel and metals, the Materials Processing Institute.

He told BBC Tees: “We can’t take away from the fact that the UK needs this investment and that Teesside is a great place to do the investment.

“The immediate benefit of this is we start to move the UK steel industry into a place where it’s not creating climate change problems, where we haven’t got those emissions.”

He said having steel production across both Teesside and Scunthorpe meant British Steel could be more specialist and flexible with its approach, while reducing costs.

Kevin Shoesmith
BBC News in Scunthorpe

Scunthorpe resident Linda Cairns, 74, said the closure of the blast furnaces would "kill the town".

"Well, it's terrible, really, isn't it? It's everything," she said.

"It's always Christmas time when there's bad news.

"In a way, I thought that that this would happen because, you know, they're always saying about British Steel.

"It really doesn't surprise me.

"But I think it's just terrible because there's no jobs anywhere for anybody."

The steel-workers' union Community has voiced concerns about replacing the Scunthorpe blast furnaces with two electric arc furnaces (EAFs) - one in Scunthorpe and one in Teesside.

General Secretary Roy Rickhuss acknowledged British Steel's proposals to "transition to green steel" but added using EAFs would "mean the UK would no longer be able to produce primary steel products and would be reliant on dirty steel imports from a turbulent and unreliable international market".

He said: “We are deeply concerned by British Steel’s plans for an EAF-only approach at Scunthorpe and Teesside, and it is vital a meaningful consultation takes place to assess all the options to secure the future of steelmaking.

"Were they to be realised, the plans that British Steel has announced, combined with Tata Steel’s plans, would leave the UK unable to make steel from raw materials and dangerously exposed to international markets.

"Community firmly believes that the blast furnaces continue to be vital in any responsible transition to green steelmaking.

He called on British Steel to consider alternative solutions.

“All options for decarbonisation must remain on the table, and Community will do whatever it takes to protect our members interests," he said."With the right commitment from all stakeholders we can deliver a just transition that saves our planet, saves our jobs, and saves our steel.”

Image source, Getty Images

The government has responded to the plans to close Scunthorpe's blast furnaces by saying it is committed to UK steel making and working with the industry to "secure a sustainable and competitive future for the sector and its workers".

A spokesperson said: "We have offered a generous support package including more than £300m of investment for British Steel to cut emissions, help safeguard jobs and unlock over £1bn in stakeholder investment.

"Ultimately, it is for British Steel to manage commercial decisions for the future of the company, and we cannot comment on ongoing commercial negotiations beyond that."

Kevin Shoesmith
BBC News in Scunthorpe

People in Scunthorpe have been reacting to today's news, telling me they fear for the future once the blast furnaces are closed.

Image source, BBC/Kevin Shoesmith

I spoke to Jane Hadley, 57, close to a statue erected in honour of the generations of men and women who have worked in the steel industry.

"The amount of people in and around Scunthorpe that work there, It provides the families with the income they need to keep a household, to feed their children and pay their bills," she tells me.

"It is just going to have a catastrophic effect for everybody [if it closes].

"I'm not personally affected but over the last few years I've seen the closures, the reopenings, the takeovers and it just has a really bad effect on everybody."

The head of the TUC has called on British Steel to halt plans to shut its blast furnaces at Scunthorpe and "get around the table with unions".

Image source, PA Media

General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Closing down the blast furnaces at the Scunthorpe plant would have a devastating impact on staff and the local community.

“Workers won’t stand back and watch as Britain’s steel industry is dismantled in real time.

“The Conservatives are presenting a false choice. Other countries have shown that it is possible to transition to zero-carbon steel making and protect good steel-making jobs for the future.

“We can do the same here. The UK badly needs a [US president] Biden-style industrial and climate plan.”

A local Labour councillor has described the planned furnace closure as "a huge mistake".

Max Bell, who represents the Ashby Lakeside ward, said the loss of up to 2,000 jobs "would be devastating for the whole area’s economy".

Posting on X, external (formerly Twitter), he also warned of possible security issues for the UK.

"Having no blast furnace means no virgin steel making capabilities, which has national security implications."

In another post, he demanded that the closure should be "resisted by all local and national stakeholders".

Today's news comes nine months after Scunthorpe was last rocked by threats of job cuts.

In February, the BBC reported British Steel was considering shutting the coking ovens, used to turn coal into coke which burns at the higher temperature needed for furnaces used to make steel.

That would have meant about 260 jobs lost in the town.

Speaking at the time one woman, whose husband and three sons worked at the steelworks, warned it would "kill" the town, while one cafe owner feared she could lose three-quarters of her business.

Alicia Pady, who owns Liz's Diner, next to the steelworks, said: "Anything that happens over there has a knock on effect over here."

Sources at the Department for Business say the proposals are part of a plan to put the UK steel industry on a more greener more sustainable footing for the future.

A support package, thought to be up to £500 million, which mirrors a package agreed for rival Tata, has been discussed and is close to finalisation.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier this year, Tata announced it would close its two blast furnaces in Port Talbot and replace them with electric arc furnaces, with an expected loss of up to 3,000 jobs.

Government sources said that blast furnace plants were not economic - they are losing £1m a day, they say - were not "green" and were therefore unsustainable on financial and environmental grounds.

The government conceded that the plan to close the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe and Port Talbot will leave the UK without the ability to make "virgin steel".

But it insisted that there were limited domestic cases where that kind of steel was needed, and that the output from electric arc furnaces covered most of the UK's needs.

Scunthorpe's former MP has described the proposed furnace closures as "worrying news".

Sir Nic Dakin, who was Labour MP from 2010 to 2019, posted on X, external (formerly Twitter):

Image source, PA Media

British Steel has released the following statement about its plans to close to shut the blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.

"While decarbonisation is a major challenge for our business, we're committed to transforming British Steel into a green and sustainable company providing long-term, skilled and well-paid careers for thousands of employees and many more in our supply chains," a spokesperson said.

"As part of our journey to net zero, it is prudent to evaluate different operational scenarios to help us achieve our ambitious goals and we are continuing to assess our options."

A bricklayer employed at the steel works said he feared Scunthorpe becoming a "ghost town".

Jon Kobarenko, speaking at an anti-closure protest last week, said "we need a steel industry".

"The town needs a steel industry, the whole country needs it.

"Without a steel industry here I hate to think what will happen to the town.

"Others [that have shut] in the past, look at them now, they’re ghost towns aren’t they?"