Losses at UK’s last blast furnaces soar to nearly twice level when government took over from Chinese

Losses at state-run British Steel have now soared to £1.3m a day – almost double the level they reached under Chinese management, government auditors have revealed. The damning new figures were published in a report by the National Audit Office, which found £377m was spent between the government takeover last April and January this year. And it emerged the bailout, classified as a loan by the Department for Business and Trade, could continue to mount, potentially totalling £1.5bn by 2028. British Steel’s Chinese owners Jingye had wanted to close the Scunthorpe site, which houses Britain’s last blast furnaces, claiming it…