British Steel: Nationalisation

Lord Bird Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The Government took action to stabilise operations at British Steel. We have appointed a new chair and asked him and the board to bring forward a transformation plan. Once that has been agreed, we will be in a better position to set out the long-term future, to attract private sector investment and to understand what this means for long-term public sector finance.

[Lord Bird (CB)]

Is it worth the Government recognising that when they try to reduce costs with nationalised industries they often cut the workforce, who then end up on social security because there are often not many jobs in that area? The Tories did this in the 1980s and pushed up the benefit bill enormously—we still have not got over it—because they did not want to support the nationalised industries and would rather have had people out of work and supported by government than in work.

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right to highlight the importance of a carefully managed transition and careful investment in all aspects of the operation of this site and this industry. One of the areas that has had a lot of focus to date is health and safety, so that employees are able to work in a safe environment. It has been one of the areas of investment since the Government’s involvement.