MPs offer and warnings over steel measures

MPs from around the region were among those who spoke in the House of Commons on Saturday during the debate on saving British Steel's Scunthorpe plant from closure.

The steelworks, where 2,700 workers face an uncertain future, have become a bit of a political football.

The speeches were made during a rare Saturday sitting in Parliament to debate the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill.

Reform UK's Richard Tice said he wanted British Steel to be nationalised, Labour's Melanie Onn said the bill was just a "sticking plaster", and speaking after the debate, Conservative MP Victoria Atkins said the government had failed to set out the costs to the taxpayer.

The government said the legislation would allow ministers to "take control" of the Lincolnshire site and stop its Chinese owner from closing the blast furnaces.

Tice, the MP for Boston and Skegness, told the Commons: "Given the secretary of state has inferred that, actually, the owners Jingye are not acting and have not acted in good faith, surely the right thing to do is to seize this great opportunity now, this weekend, and nationalise British Steel."

Sir David Davis, a Conservative former minister and the member for Goole and Pocklington, said MPs were debating a "nationalisation in all but name" bill, adding: "I would have voted for nationalisation. I will vote for this Bill for a simple reason - this buys us time.

"It's a reprieve, not a rescue. I think that's what people have to understand."

Atkins, shadow environment secretary and Conservative MP for Louth and Horncastle, accused the government of recalling Parliament in a panic.

Speaking outside the Commons after the debate, she said the legislation didn't contain the detail needed to "safeguard jobs and to protect the steel industry".

She argued that taxpayers had not been told what the cost would be, and questions remained around what the future liabilities would be.

"What are the prospects of the private sector becoming involved again":[]}