Beg, borrow or steel

Last year Scunthorpe’s two blast furnaces Queen Anne and Queen Bess became the last remaining primary steelmaking facility in the UK. However there were reports that those facilities were soon to be mothballed - 2,500 jobs lost before Christmas.  Despite those reports, smoke is still rising from the Scunthorpe Steelworks and talks about its future are continuing between Jingye - the Chinese company which owns the plant - and the government. But what is the government's plan for the future of British steel? How reliant are we on offshore production? And how did Scunthorpe come to own the latest poltical football? Kate Lamble is joined by Megan Kenyon and Sam Alvis, as well as Ben Houchen, Nic Dakin, Tony Gosling, Andrea Jenkyns and Martin Foster.Read: The cost of net zero in the town that steel builtLISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.