Britons on Steel

Most Britons back nationalisation of British Steel

Fifty-four per cent think that nationalising British Steel is the right move, while 14 per cent disagree with the decision, and a third (32 per cent) are unsure.

Support for nationalising the Scunthorpe steelworks spans across British politics, with a majority of every voter group saying that it is the right decision. Labour voters are most supportive, with 66 per cent in support and 14 per cent opposed. However, even among Conservative and Reform voters, six in ten support the nationalisation.

Notably, younger Britons are far more conflicted about the decision: With only 32 per cent of Gen Z in support of nationalising the works, they are half as supportive as Baby Boomers (66 per cent support).

Nearly half of Britons (47 per cent) support the use of taxpayers’ money for nationalising and supporting Scunthorpe steelworks, while 21 per cent see it as a bad use of public funds.

Liberal Democrats (60 per cent) and Labour voters (58 per cent) are most likely to think that keeping the steelworks open is a good use of taxpayers money. Notably, while Green voters are highly supportive of nationalisation, they are less convinced that supporting the works would be a good use of public funds.

Most Britons back nationalising utilities, railways and Royal Mail.

The public tend to think that the government should go further on nationalisation, and take state control over the wider steel industry: 51 per cent support this, while only 13 per cent would oppose it. 

Many also want to nationalise other key industries: 63 per cent support nationalising water, while 57 per cent support nationalising energy and 56 per cent want to nationalise Royal Mail.

Britons are notably united in their support for nationalising steel.

While views on nationalisation usually fall along party lines, there’s strong cross-party support for bringing British Steel into public ownership - majorities across the political spectrum are in favour.

Labour voters tend to show far higher support for nationalisation than Conservative voters. For instance, seven in ten (70 per cent) Labour voters support nationalising energy, compared to only half (51 per cent) of Conservative voters.When it comes to steel, the gap between voter groups is far narrower. 61 per cent of Labour voters are in favour of public ownership of the steel industry, alongside 56 per cent of Conservative voters.

Britons are politically divided on who is to blame for British Steel’s struggles, but most agree that the Chinese government played a role

The public’s political affiliations shape who they blame for British Steel’s struggles: Labour and Liberal Democrat voters tend to blame the previous Conservative government, while Conservative and Reform voters are more likely to blame Labour. 

Britons are also split on the extent to which the net-zero target is to blame. Most Conservative (61 per cent) and Reform (67 per cent) voters think the push to net-zero is somewhat responsible, compared to a minority of Labour (49 per cent), Liberal Democrat (42 per cent) and Green (40 per cent) voters.

While Britons are divided on the exact cause of the crisis, they are united in the belief that the Chinese government played a role: majorities of every voter group think that the Chinese government is somewhat, mainly or wholly responsible for the potential closure of the steel works.

Most Britons think the government should reduce Chinese involvement in the UK economy

Fifty-four per cent of Britons want the government to reduce Chinese involvement in our economy. Meanwhile 9 per cent think that we should be aiming to increase Chinese involvement, and 20 per cent say we should not try to influence it at all.

All voter groups are far more likely to agree than disagree that Chinese influence in our economy should be limited. Liberal Democrats (68 per cent) and Conservative voters (64 per cent) are most supportive of reducing Chinese involvement, while Labour voters (51 per cent) and Green voters (46 per cent) are only slightly less so.

Britons tend to believe that Chinese companies should not to be able be able to significantly invest in key British industries:

Two-thirds (66 per cent) support a limit on Chinese investment in national security (defence or communications technology).

Majorities also think Chinese investment in public services like the NHS, and in national infrastructure, should be limited.