Keir Starmer makes British Steel prediction and responds to 'deliberate sabotage' claim

Keir Starmer is "confident" that vital raw materials can be secured in the race against time to save the plant in Scunthorpe.

Two shipments are imminent and a third is on its way, No10 said this morning. The news will be welcome to anxious workers who feared the steelworks would be forced to shut. The iron ore pellets and coking coal will arrive "in the coming days", the official spokesman said.

He said: "We are now confident in securing the supply of materials needed." Iron ore and coking coal are needed within days to save around 2,700 jobs - plus thousands more in the supply chain - after the Government to take control of the Chinese-owned plant. The intervention will be for nothing if the two furnaces cool down and become commercially unviable.

The No10 spokesman said: "There are two ships docked at Immingham (in Lincolnshire) containing iron ore pellets and coking coal. There's a third ship which is currently en route, off the coast of Africa, which will be making its way to the UK as well. We'll be working with the management to identify what further raw materials are needed to keep the blast furnaces operating."

The No10 spokesman refused to go into detail about how the materials had been paid for. The Government is "not aware" of any deliberate sabotage, he said, but said the owners had "made it clear" they would not be ordering the coal and iron ore.

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The No10 spokesman said the Government believes owner Jingye was "acting in bad faith". "It became clear in the Government's conversations with Jingye in relation to securing the future of this plant, that they were seeking to stop the operation of the blast furnaces."

Union bosses earlier they are "hopeful" that vital raw materials will be secured in the next 48 hours. The Royal Navy was last night on alert to possibly escort a shipment of coal and iron.

Andy Prendergast, national secretary at the union, said: "Where we are at the moment is that we're confident that the deal being done with the raw materials, and the steps being taken will get there on time, and ultimately that has the potential to preserve the future for the plant.

"There still needs to be... a deal to be done for the future, whether that's our preference - which is nationalisation of what is a key national asset - or whether that's a genuine private investor who's willing to come in and put the money. I think for us the key thing is that we keep this plant going and keep virgin steel-making capacity in the UK."

Asked about an expected timeline for getting the material in, Mr Prendergast said: "We're being told it's going to come in good time, so we're... hopeful that it's the next 48 hours but we haven't had confirmation of that. However, we believe the steps taken would be meaningless if there weren't the logistics in place to get it to the plant on time".

This morning British Steel announced the appointment of two interim executives. Allan Bell was named as interim chief executive officer and Lisa Coulson as interim chief commerical officer.

Boith are long-term British Steel employees. Mr Bell said: "Our sole focus is ensuring a secure and sustainable future for British Steel's production in Scunthorpe.

"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. We look forward to working in partnership with our colleagues in government, the trade unions and the workforce here in Scunthorpe."

On Sunday Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds refused to guarantee the crucial shipments would arrive on time. But he said the plant has a "fighting chance" after management responsibilities were seized from energy firm Jingye - who he accused of refusing to purchase material to save the furnaces.

Pressed on whether coal and iron would arrive on time Mr Reynolds said: ""We've taken action to give us the chance to do that. The situation we have taken on is a challenging and difficult one."

British Steel staff are working with senior Government figures to keep the furnaces in operation - with dozens of businesses understood to have reached out offering support. If the two furnaces, nicknamed Queen Anne and Queen Bess, cool too much, it will not be financially viable to save them.

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