Scunthorpe and net zero secretary Ed Miliband

The government’s emergency takeover of British Steel has many blaming Labour’s own “Net Zero” policies for the current crisis – but is that accurate?

MPs were rushed back to parliament in the middle of their Easter recess on Saturday to pass an emergency law to prevent the last steel-making site in England from going under.

The government is now looking to nationalise British Steel amid fears its Chinese owner Jingye was planning to run it down.

Talks aimed at providing government support to help prop up the loss-making site collapsed, forcing ministers to step in to maintain its steel-production capacity and save the jobs of around 3,000 workers.

Critics are now blaming the UK’s eco-friendly policies for driving Scunthorpe to the brink – a claim environmentalists say is inaccurate.

Here’s what you need to know.

How have green policies affected the raw materials British Steel needs?

The Scunthorpe site is the last maker of virgin steel in the UK and needs iron ore and coke, which is a derivative of coal, to keep its two blast furnaces going. If the furnaces shut down, it is very difficult – and expensive – to get them operating again.

Scunthorpe usually imports its coking coal, which can take 45 days to arrive once it’s been ordered.

Critics have subsequently started to attack the government’s reluctance to........

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