Workers leaving British Steel Scunthorpe due to uncertain future

It is often said there are few families in Scunthorpe without a link to the steelworks.

At a cafe in Ashby, I sit down with John Taylor – another former steelworker who left shortly before last year’s green announcement. But by chance we end up sharing a table and our discussion with Barbara Thornton, whose husband worked at British Steel from leaving school.

“It’s a big worry,” she says. “The town relies on the steelworks in one way or another. If people haven’t got work, the infrastructure breaks down. You fear for the younger ones.”

Another woman has also been listening. Her father and brother worked there.

“It’s been our life, generation after generation,” she says with passion.

Mr Taylor says he understands the need to change the industry, but people do not want to wait for the impact.

“A lot of people have jumped before they’re pushed. They can see there’s going to be a mass exodus of people. And there’s only so many jobs out there,” he says.

“It really does worry me. If the steelworks goes, the infrastructure will fall apart. We’ve all worked all our lives to buy a house. That house is going to be worth half of what it used to be… it spirals.”

Jingye was “brilliant” when it first took over, he says. But when he looks to the future, he tells me, “I see doom”.

The government says it is working with trade unions and businesses across the UK, including British Steel. But in Scunthorpe, they feel there is not a lot of feedback – just lots of questions.

In a park overlooking the steelworks, I shake a Magic 8 Ball. Can it tell me what the future holds?

I turn it over, anticipating its “wisdom”.

“Answer unclear,” it says, “ask me later.”

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