Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill Committee: New Clause 8

Parliament voted on 8 June 2026 to reject New Clause 8 to the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill during its committee stage. The clause was defeated by 251 votes to 145. Every Labour and Labour and Co-operative MP who voted opposed it, while Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, the Democratic Unionist Party, and the Ulster Unionist Party all voted in favour. New Clause 8 sought to attach conditions or requirements to the nationalisation of the steel industry being enacted through the bill. Its defeat means the government's preferred version of the legislation proceeds without those additional provisions. The bill itself nationalises the steel sector, and removing this clause keeps the framework of state ownership on the terms the government proposed, without the constraints or obligations that opposition parties sought to write in. The vote followed clear party lines, with all voting Labour and Labour and Co-operative members backing the government and every Conservative and Liberal Democrat who voted supporting the clause. This represents a cross-party opposition alliance that nonetheless fell well short of the government's majority. The result mirrors three related divisions on the same day and in the weeks prior, including a defeat for Amendment 12 earlier on 8 June and a rejected reasoned amendment at second reading on 21 May 2026, suggesting consistent and sustained opposition attempts to reshape the bill that the government has repelled at each stage.