Some opposition parties were also furious that other industrial plants in trouble had not been given the same treatment from the government. Plaid Cymru said “the people of Wales would not forget” that the steel plant at Port Talbot was allowed to close its blast furnaces and convert to electric arc production, while the SNP highlighted the different treatment for Grangemouth – Scotland’s only oil refinery, which could close. Government sources said those plants were facing different situations.

The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the government had “bungled” the negotiations with British Steel.

“They must have seen this coming for a while,” she said. “Instead of addressing it earlier in the week when parliament was sitting, their incompetence has led to a last-minute recall of parliament.”

The Green Party has said it will support any bid to nationalise British Steel.

Green MP Ellie Chowns said nationalisation was “the only sure way to secure this strategically important sector so vital to national security and British jobs”.