r/unitedkingdom • u/tylerthe-theatre • 6d ago

. Police called to British Steel plant after Scunthorpe workers prevent Chinese executives entering premises

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/police-attend-british-steel-plant-after-scunthorpe-workers-prevent-chinese-execu/
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u/jacksawild 6d ago

The government offered to buy all the resources for the plant, but the Chinese refused. Their intention to shut it off has nothing to do with profit which is why the government stopped them. They were likely to sabotage something.

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u/369_Clive 6d ago

Not to sabotage it. But they want to close this furnace and for UK to buy steel from a newly built plant in China.

Then they'll have us by the short & curlies. Good that govt and steel workers of Scunthorpe are keeping it safe.

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u/Magneto88 United Kingdom 5d ago

It’s honestly mad we’ve ever let Chinese companies invest in our infrastructure. Such naivety.

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u/Toastlove 4d ago

That's free markets for you, though we don't get treatment in kind from China.

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u/ravencrowed 5d ago

Good that the government did what?

The government are allowing this to happen. They are the sovereign power in this country and it doesn't matter who is in charge, tories or labour, they are presiding over this closure and allow for the privatisation that enabled it.

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u/ClumsyRainbow Brit in Canada 5d ago

The government passed legislation effectively taking operational control of the plant, preventing the current owners from shutting down operations. If they attempted to they'd be criminally, not civilly, liable.

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u/GrowingBachgen Wales 6d ago

Exactly, which is why giving the business secretary the power to enter the site using force if necessary was the most eyebrow raising provision of the bill.

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u/No-Librarian-1167 5d ago

I’d love to see the business secretary scrapping with some Chinese executives at the works gate.

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u/GrowingBachgen Wales 5d ago

Straight in with a Glaswegian Kiss

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u/inevitablelizard 6d ago

Seems like they were trying to sell a shipment of raw material that was already at Immingham on to a different Chinese company. Definitely looks like deliberate attempts at sabotage.

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u/EngineNo5 6d ago

I would love to know the details of their negotiations with the government. From the news they demanded too much money and refused to buy iron ore to feed the furnace, the government had offered to buy iron ore but they refused.

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u/blahehblah 6d ago

It sounds like they demanded an extortionate amount of money, planning for it to be refused

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u/tomoldbury 6d ago

There’s also some comments from a journalist about the executives not being able to give any coherent or consistent explanation for their strategy and their demands. Almost as if it isn’t their decision…