Summary of the day …
The government remains “confident” it will secure the supply of materials needed to keep blast furnaces burning at the Scunthorpe steel plant, Downing Street has said. Two ships carrying materials are docked at Immingham port in North Lincolnshire, with “a third ship which is currently en route off the coast of Africa, which will be making its way to the UK”, No 10 said
China responded to the British government stepping in to take control of Chinese-owned British Steel at the weekend by telling the UK not to “politicise” the process, with the Chinese embassy calling for “fairness”
Treasury minister James Murray criticised previous Conservative governments for their approaches to relations with China, saying that the current Labour administration needed to be “cool-headed, clear-eyed and pragmatic” in its dealings with the country, as there were significant economic implications
Experts say some rightwing media and parliamentarians have been falsely blaming Ed Miliband for the UK steel crisis
British Steel has announced the appointment of Allan Bell as interim CEO and Lisa Coulson as interim chief commercial officer with immediate effect. The move has been welcomed by the largest steelworkers’ union
Bin workers have “overwhelmingly” rejected a deal that would have ended an all-out strike in Birmingham, during which bin bags have piled up in the streets. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch was in the city today campaigning for May’s local elections in some regions of England
The former Conservative MP Craig Williams is among 15 people, including several other senior Tories, charged by the Gambling Commission for alleged cheating connected to bets based on the date of the 2024 UK general election
A court has ruled Steve Bray’s anti-Tory and anti-Brexit protest featuring The Muppet Show and Darth Vader themes played loudly outside parliament was a lawful expression of his views
The government has said it was “deeply concerning” that a UK MP was refused permission to enter Hong Kong last week. Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse claims her apparent presence on secret list of critics of country’s human rights record made her a target
John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, has signalled this year’s Scottish spending and legislative programme will be rewritten to cope with the economic “turbulence” triggered by Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade wars
The way police responded to the 2024 summer riots was “entirely appropriate”, a parliamentary report has found. MPs considered accusations that the riots were policed more strongly than previous protests, but said that claims of “two-tier policing” were “baseless”
A £1.5m fund has been launched to encourage people affected by the Windrush scandal to come forward to seek compensation
Our social affairs correspondent Jessica Murray has this report on the vote to reject a deal that end the Birmingham bin strike
Bin workers have “overwhelmingly” rejected a deal that would have ended an all-out strike in Birmingham, during which bin bags have piled up in the streets and the city has faced an influx of rats.
Negotiations between the council and Unite, representing the striking workers, have stalled for months, and refuse workers have been on indefinite strike since 11 March.
On Monday, workers were balloted on a “partial deal on pay protection for a few”, according to the Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham.
Workers voted overwhelmingly to reject the deal, the union said.
“The rejection of the offer is no surprise as these workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision,” said Graham.
“The government must now call a meeting with the stakeholders to ensure these steps are taken to bring the strike to an end. The government must now also urgently consider Unite’s proposal for debt restructure at Birmingham city council and other local authorities. Workers and communities cannot continue to pay the price.”
