UK politics: No 10 ‘confident’ on securing supplies to keep Scunthorpe furnaces burning – as it happened (2025)

• The government remains “confident” it will secure the supply of materials needed to keep blast furnaces burning at the Scunthorpe steel plant, Downing Street has said. Two ships carrying materials are docked at Immingham port in North Lincolnshire, with “a third ship which is currently en route off the coast of Africa, which will be making its way to the UK”, No 10 said

• China responded to the British government stepping in to take control of Chinese-owned British Steel at the weekend by telling the UK not to “politicise” the process, with the Chinese embassy calling for “fairness”

• Treasury minister James Murray criticised previous Conservative governments for their approaches to relations with China, saying that the current Labour administration needed to be “cool-headed, clear-eyed and pragmatic” in its dealings with the country, as there were significant economic implications

• Experts say some rightwing media and parliamentarians have been falsely blaming Ed Miliband for the UK steel crisis

• British Steel has announced the appointment of Allan Bell as interim CEO and Lisa Coulson as interim chief commercial officer with immediate effect. The move has been welcomed by the largest steelworkers’ union

• Bin workers have “overwhelmingly” rejected a deal that would have ended an all-out strike in Birmingham, during which bin bags have piled up in the streets. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch was in the city today campaigning for May’s local elections in some regions of England

• The former Conservative MP Craig Williams is among 15 people, including several other senior Tories, charged by the Gambling Commission for alleged cheating connected to bets based on the date of the 2024 UK general election

• A court has ruled Steve Bray’s anti-Tory and anti-Brexit protest featuring The Muppet Show and Darth Vader themes played loudly outside parliament was a lawful expression of his views

• The government has said it was “deeply concerning” that a UK MP was refused permission to enter Hong Kong last week. Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse claims her apparent presence on secret list of critics of country’s human rights record made her a target

• John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, has signalled this year’s Scottish spending and legislative programme will be rewritten to cope with the economic “turbulence” triggered by Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade wars

• The way police responded to the 2024 summer riots was “entirely appropriate”, a parliamentary report has found. MPs considered accusations that the riots were policed more strongly than previous protests, but said that claims of “two-tier policing” were “baseless”

• A £1.5m fund has been launched to encourage people affected by the Windrush scandal to come forward to seek compensation

Our social affairs correspondent Jessica Murray has this report on the vote to reject a deal that end the Birmingham bin strike

Bin workers have “overwhelmingly” rejected a deal that would have ended an all-out strike in Birmingham, during which bin bags have piled up in the streets and the city has faced an influx of rats.

Negotiations between the council and Unite, representing the striking workers, have stalled for months, and refuse workers have been on indefinite strike since 11 March.

On Monday, workers were balloted on a “partial deal on pay protection for a few”, according to the Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham.

Workers voted overwhelmingly to reject the deal, the union said.

“The rejection of the offer is no surprise as these workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision,” said Graham.

“The government must now call a meeting with the stakeholders to ensure these steps are taken to bring the strike to an end. The government must now also urgently consider Unite’s proposal for debt restructure at Birmingham city council and other local authorities. Workers and communities cannot continue to pay the price.”

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has been asked about the deployment of logistical help from the army to tackle a backlog of waste refuse in Birmingham.

She said:

There’s no boots on the ground, let me be very clear, we’ve deployed a couple of army logistics to help with the logistical operation of clearing up the rubbish.

We’ve got over two-thirds of the rubbish cleared off the streets now, this week we’ll start to see cleaning up the pavements and streets as well as the clearance of all of that rubbish, I’m very pleased about that. The kids are off school, obviously it’s Easter holidays, we want that rubbish cleared.

Refuse workers in Birmingham have voted to reject a “totally inadequate” offer from the city council aimed at ending a long-running strike over pay, union Unite said, PA Media reports.

Unite said the deal would have included “substantial” pay cuts for workers and did not address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “For weeks, these workers have faced attacks from government and their employer pushing the lie that only a handful of workers are affected by the council’s plans to cut pay by up to £8,000.

“Instead of peddling untruths about these low paid workers and focusing on winning a media war, the government should have taken the time to check facts and used its office to bring the council to the table in a meaningful way.

“The rejection of the offer is no surprise as these workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision.”

Our environment reporter Helena Horton has this on how rightwing media talking points falsely portray net zero and clean energy as a villain in the British Steel crisis:

Ed Miliband and the UK’s net zero target are being falsely blamed for the UK’s steel crisis, experts have said.

Some parliamentarians and media commentators placed the blame for Britain’s declining steel industry on the energy secretary, claiming that his net zero policies and lack of support for a proposed coalmine in Cumbria have made the energy and coking coal used to make steel more expensive.

During Saturday’s debate, the shadow business secretary, Andrew Griffith, said: “No one is more responsible for this than the energy secretary and the prime minister who appointed him.”

The rightwing press was critical of Miliband, with calls for him to be reshuffled from his position and several pieces blaming the energy secretary for the perilous position of the Scunthorpe site.

But experts have said this characterisation is completely false. Prof Rob Gross, the director of the UK Energy Research Centre said: “The clean power mission can actually help save the steel industry.

“High energy prices in the UK undoubtedly play a role in the problems faced by steelmakers. But high energy prices are absolutely not created by net zero policies. Britain is acutely exposed to fluctuations in gas prices, and the gas price also drives UK electricity prices more than in other countries.

“Britain’s amazing wind resources offer the potential for cheap, stable energy prices. We need to build the infrastructure of clean power so we can have cheap power for decades. The drive for clean energy also creates a large demand for steel, for wind farms, nuclear power stations and pylons.”

Read more from Helena Horton here: Rightwing media falsely blame Ed Miliband for UK steel crisis, experts say

The largest steelworkers’ union has welcomed the promotion of two British Steel veterans to lead the company under government control.

The Community union said it welcomed the appointments of Allan Bell as chief executive and Lisa Coulson as chief commercial officer, after a near-total breakdown in relations between workers and British Steel’s Chinese owners, Jingye.

Assistant general secretary Alasdair McDiarmid added “We have enjoyed a constructive relationship with Allan and Lisa in their previous roles, and we know that they will fulfil the government’s ambition of maintaining reliable and professional leadership on site. The focus now must be on securing the continued operation of the blast furnaces and delivering a brighter future for British Steel.”

Jingye remains the owner of British Steel, but ministers have acknowledged that full nationalisation remains an option. Many people in the industry expect it to be the next step, as Jingye’s has proven unwilling to invest.

In an earlier statement, Bell said “Our immediate priorities are securing the raw materials we need to continue blast furnace operations, ensuring we have the dedicated personnel to run those furnaces, and maintaining the highest levels of health and safety for our workforce.”

I mentioned earlier that the Conservative party were pushing waste collection in Birmingham as a local election issue ahead of polling in some regions of England on 1 May. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has just issued a video of her meeting residents in Birmingham. In it she says:

I’m standing in a park in Birmingham that should be full of children playing. Instead, it’s full of rubbish, needles, rotten food. This is not what life is supposed to be like. This is what Labour run Birmingham looks like and the people here are suffering because of Labour incompetence.

We need to do better for our local residents. That’s why I’m telling people to vote Conservative for better services. You can’t just hope for a better Council, you’ve got to vote for one.

The local elections [in some regions of England] are coming up. And if you don’t want your community to end up like this one, there’s only one credible alternative, and that’s the Conservative party.

In the video residents are seen complaining about council tax rises and the closures of local libraries.

The Conservative party have also claimed on social media that “the rubbish piling up on Birmingham streets now weighs as much as two Eiffel Towers”, although it isn’t entirely clear how they have calculated that.

Keir Starmer’s social media output has also been in campaigning mode, although in his case he is aiming to champion success in government policy on the NHS in England.

The prime minister’s message in the last couple of minutes was:

Over three million more appointments delivered. Over 1,500 new GPs recruited. Over 100,000 more people treated on time. Over 80% of patients having cancer ruled out or diagnosed within 28 days. Waiting lists down for the sixth month in a row. Our plan for change is working.

My colleagues Kiran Stacey and Jasper Jolly have this full report on the latest developments with British Steel in Scunthorpe.

Tulip Siddiq has claimed allegations by Bangladeshi authorities against her are a “politically motivated smear campaign” and insisted there is “no evidence that I’ve done anything wrong”.

PA Media reports that speaking to reporters on Monday, the Hampstead and Highgate Labour MP said: “no one from the Bangladeshi authorities has contacted me. The entire time they’ve done trial by media.

“My lawyers proactively wrote to the Bangladeshi authorities, they never responded. I’m sure you’ll understand I can’t dignify this politically motivated smear campaign It’s a completely politically motivated smear campaign, trying to harass me – there is no evidence that I’ve done anything wrong.”

Siddiq resigned from her post in the Treasury earlier this year after an investigation by the prime minister’s ethics adviser into her links to her aunt, the ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina

Yesterday it was reported An arrest warrant for the former City minister Tulip Siddiq has been issued in Bangladesh with a new allegation accusing her of illegally receiving a plot of land from Hasina.

Bangladeshi media reported the warrant was issued by a judge for 53 people connected to Hasina, including Siddiq. There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Bangladesh.

Scotland must not be an “afterthought” for the UK government, John Swinney has said, as he called for the Grangemouth refinery to be nationalised.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the first minister said: “If British Steel is to be nationalised to protect it, then so too should Grangemouth. I’m determined to make sure that Scotland is not viewed as an afterthought.”

Owners Petroineos announced plans to shutter the Grangemouth refinery last year and it was confirmed in recent weeks that 377 workers have accepted voluntary redundancy, with a further 28 compulsory redundancies.

PA Media quotes a Petroineos spokesperson saying: “If governments had wanted to seriously consider different ownership models, the time to start that work was five years ago when we first alerted them to the challenges at the refinery. We have also been clear throughout about the fundamental operational challenges and the scale of losses incurred.”

The government has issued a further comment on the decision by authorities in Hong Kong to refuse entry to Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse. It said:

During his visit to mainland China and Hong Kong, minister for trade policy and economic security Douglas Alexander relayed our immediate and deep concern regarding MP Wera Hobhouse’s denial of entry into Hong Kong.

Minister Alexander raised our concerns and demanded an explanation with senior Chinese and Hong Kong interlocutors, including Hong Kong’s chief secretary for administration, to understand why the Hong Kong authorities refused access to a British MP.

It is deeply concerning that a UK MP was refused permission to enter Hong Kong last week.

Unjustified restrictions on the freedom of movement for UK citizens into Hong Kong only serves to further undermine Hong Kong’s international reputation and the important people-people connections between the UK and Hong Kong.

As the foreign secretary has made clear and Minister Alexander relayed in person, it would be unacceptable for any MP to be denied entry for simply expressing their views.

Downing Street was also asked earlier to comment on the latest situation with waste disposal in Birmingham, where office-based military specialists have been called in to deal with the mounting piles of rubbish on the streets.

PA Media reports the prime minister’s official spokesperson said:

The residents of Birmingham are our first and foremost priority. That’s why we’ve provided a number of staff to support the council to help get the streets cleaned up and address the public health risks.

This includes coordinating the local response with local authorities, providing additional vehicles and crews, and opening household waste centres to Birmingham residents and, as set out over the weekend, a handful of office-based military personnel are supporting operational planning and have made themselves available to the council to support.

And as the deputy prime minister has said, we are now urging Unite to suspend its action and accept the offer that is on the table.

Downing Street said there “no plans” to bring in frontline personnel, and claimed that more than 100 vehicles had left depots on Monday morning.

Earlier the Conservative party attempted to use the issue as part of their campaign for the local elections taking place in some parts of England on 1 May. In a message posted to social media, the party said “Labour have lost control of Britain’s second city. Now Keir Starmer is being forced to call in the ARMY to bail out his failing Labour-run council.”

Earlier this year, when proposing its budget, Cllr John Cotton, leader of Birmingham city council, said “Birmingham city council is facing a number of financial challenges. Our situation has been made much worse by a national crisis in local government finance.”

“A combination of austerity and underfunding – Birmingham has lost over £1bn in funding since 2011 – added to a rising demand for services and inflation mean that, across the country local authorities are facing some of the biggest budget challenges in living memory.”

The government remains “confident” it will secure the supply of materials needed to keep blast furnaces burning at the Scunthorpe steel plant, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “We are now confident in securing the supply of materials needed. Obviously we will be working with the management to identify further raw materials needed to keep a steady pipeline, and to keep the furnaces burning.

“I’m not going to get ahead of what comes next, but we’ll obviously now work on the issues of ownership.”

The spokesperson added there are two ships carrying materials docked at Immingham port in North Lincolnshire, with “a third ship which is currently en route off the coast of Africa, which will be making its way to the UK”.

The spokesperson would not say whether money had been exchanged for the materials, and said they would reach the plant in the “coming days”.

Downing Street also attempted to play down claims that there had been deliberate “sabotage” of steel-making efforts at the plant, saying:

No, we’re not aware of any deliberate acts of sabotage. But as the business secretary and the industry minister said over the weekend, [during] the talks that we were engaging with the Chinese owners [it] became clear that they wanted to shut the blast furnaces. That wasn’t an outcome that we wanted to see. They had decided not to order more raw materials.

Earlier China’s foreign ministry warned the UK not to “politicise” trade cooperation or “link it to security issues” in order “not to impact the confidence of Chinese enterprises in going to the UK.”

As well as drawing comparisons with the government’s actions over Grangemouth from the SNP [see 9.30am], Labour’s intervention to try to save the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe has been contrasted with its actions over Port Talbot.

GMB national secretary Andy Prendergast has told the PA news agency that the comparison with latter was “not entirely” fair, adding that the Westminster government had been “willing to take the bull by the horns” to keep the Scunthorpe plant going.

Asked whether it was “unfair” of the government to take control of the works in Scunthorpe but not in Port Talbot, Prendergast said: “The difficulty is it’s not entirely a fair comparison, largely on the basis of the majority of stuff that under Port Talbot happened under the previous government.”

He continued, saying:

Frankly, when it came to the industrial strategy, they were asleep at the wheel. You know, when you look at steel specifically, they [the Conservatives] oversaw our steel industry shrink to half the size it was.

I think the steps being taken in Port Talbot were belated but welcome by the current government, but I think it’s a little bit of an unfair comparison.

This [Scunthorpe] was our last blast furnace, it was a different situation, and we have a different government at the wheel, and we’re thankful that we actually have one willing to take the bull by the horns and actually do something which was notably lacking under the last government.

Torsten Bell, who has been MP for Swansea West since the last election, just issued the following statement via social media:

The Conservatives spent 14 years neglecting crucial decisions on the future of UK steelmaking. They left Port Talbot on the brink. The new government was not able to reopen the deal with Tata, but it did renegotiate a better deal – in just 10 weeks. Labour’s deal secured the immediate future of steelmaking in Port Talbot. It laid the groundwork for long-term investment.

And it guaranteed enhanced protections for every Tata employee in Wales. Unlike the Tories – who announced £80 million to support Port Talbot’s transition but didn’t actually spend a penny – Labour has already delivered that full sum, with funds dedicated to retraining workers, creating new jobs and supporting local suppliers.

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville-Roberts described the decision to seize control of the British Steel operation in Scunthorpe as a “bitter day for the people of Port Talbot”. She said:

People in south Wales have been loyally voting for Labour for decades. Does this Labour government therefore feel proud that those votes have been paid back by Tory-style deindustrialisation in Port Talbot? Plaid Cymru has consistently called for nationalisation, but the Labour first minister of Wales rejected our calls.