British Steel halts redundancy plans after government rescue

Union welcomes announcement company is closing consultation on laying off up to 2,700 Scunthorpe workers

British Steel will not continue with a consultation on making up to 2,700 steelworkers at its Scunthorpe plant redundant, after the government took control of the firm earlier this month.

The Chinese company Jingye, which promised a new chapter" when it bought British Steel in 2020, last month proposed closing Scunthorpe's two blast furnaces, putting the roles under threat and ending Britain's ability to produce steel from scratch.