The Business Secretary has refused to confirm whether the government can obtain sufficient supplies of raw material in time to keep the undergoing steel under operation, after its control of the Chinese property plant.
Emergency legilation was hurried Through Parliament on Saturday To prevent the owners, Jingye, to close their two underpants in Scunthorpe.
When asked if it could be guaranteed that the furnaces remained open, Jonathan Reynolds said he would not comment “about the commercial aspect of the offer”, but the acquisition cools and the “opportunity” to obtain the necessary coal.
The Government said previously that Jingye had been selling raw materials in the face of the control of the officials of the officials.
Asked several times by Laura Kuensberg about whether she was sure she could get the coal supply before current actions are exhausted, Reynolds insisted on “I will not get into that” but the acquisition “was essential to maintain.
Speaking in the program, Reynolds said the situation is still “difficult and challenging.”
But the emergency legislation of Saturday “allows” that the government keep the underpants run, he said. Once a small oven goes out, it becomes incredible difficult to restart production.
“If we had acted, the high furnaces left and in the United Kingdom the production of primary steel would have gone,” he said.
“If we had acted, you would ask how we support the thousands who have lost their jobs.”
The conservatives have criticized the government for not entering before to save the plant and protect jobs.
In statements to the BBC, Tory Shadow’s Secretary of Business, Andrew Griffith, argued that the government should nationalize steel to clarify any questions about the future of the company.
The company has already been “nationalized” in “substance” by emergency powers, he argued.
