MPs have erupted with anger following a ministers' refusal to rule out the possibility of another Chinese firm’s involvement in British Steel. The Government was forced to wrest control of the Scunthorpe plant from its Chinese Owners Jingye in a dramatic Saturday sitting of Parliament.

Nigel Farage has said he does not want the Communist state involved in any of the UK’s critical infrastructure. He insisted the country will “live with it” and find alternatives if that means a drop in investment for projects.

Reform UK’s leader said: “I genuinely believe that Jingye bought British Steel to close British Steel down such that… we’d be the only major nation on earth, actually, that would not be a producer of primary steel.

“We have allowed China to get so deep inside our critical infrastructure, so deep inside our universities and elsewhere – and it is the Tories what done it but it’s Labour that are continuing with it – and we need a completely different rethink.

“And you know what? If that means less investment from China then, frankly, so be it.

“I don’t want China in our nuclear industry. I don’t want China in our telecoms. I don’t want China in any of our critical infrastructure.

“They have increasingly, over the last decade, become a nation that is not a friend of ours in any way.”

Chinese researchers will be granted access to NHS data despite MI5 fears that Beijing’s regime could acquire sensitive information, reports have suggested.

UK Biobank, a research hub, is preparing to transfer data from half a million GP records to its central database where it will be available for use by universities, scientific institutes and private companies.

The medical information has been donated by volunteers, who have agreed for data from their GP records to be added to the database.

A UK Biobank representative said it was “continually in dialogue” with MI5 and other state agencies about the use of its data,

Meanwhile Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned that the Government needs to define which industries are “strategic” and prevent China from being allowed to invest in such sectors.

The Government’s “preference” is for a private sector partner to manage the Scunthorpe steel works, Business and Trade Minister Sarah Jones said yesterday (TUES).

She declined to rule out the possibility of another Chinese firm’s involvement.

Instead, the minister insisted the Government will apply “stringent tests” when assessing if a Chinese firm would be permitted to take over the Scunthorpe steelworks.

She said: “On any important infrastructure there would be stringent tests – and I would look at each case in point – and we would look at the stringent tests that we have in place. I’m not going to second guess where the Secretary of State or others might choose to make decisions.

“But the point on China, I think it is important. It’s the second biggest economy in the world. It’s our fourth largest trading partner, and hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK rely on that trade that we do with China, and that’s really important and we will continue to have that pragmatic relationship with them.

“But of course, when it comes to infrastructure, we will make sure on a case-by-case basis, that we are not letting anything get in the way of our national security and that we are applying those stringent tests.”

Asked if the Government would rule out another Chinese partner for the plant after taking control from owner Jingye, Ms Jones said: “At the moment, I’m not going to say yes or no to anything that isn’t at the moment on the table or being looked at.

“Whatever the future for Scunthorpe, we want to make sure we can keep primary steel-making, we can keep steel-making in our country and we can grow that industry, not see the continued decline that we’ve had over recent years.”

If British Steel is nationalised, taxpayers' money will be used to run it. Jonathan Reynolds said it is currently making an annual net loss of £233million.

The cost to the taxpayer would be higher had the furnaces been allowed to shut. Industry Minister Sarah Jones said the costs would come from an existing £2.5billion fund for steel.

Jingye last month said the Scunthorpe plant was losing around £700,000 a day and launched a consultation on its closure.

Mr Reynolds suggested he would “look at a Chinese firm in a different way” from those based in other nations when it comes to involvement in the UK steel sector but added the Government took control of British Steel was because of “one specific company.”

The Business Secretary said: “In this case, our difference of opinion on the future was with a specific company.

“I know there’s a lot of interest in the wider UK-China relationship, understandably so but this was about this company.

“I think we’ve got to recognise that steel is a sensitive sector. It’s a sensitive sector around the world, and a lot of the issues in the global economy with steel come from over-production and dumping of steel products, and that does come from China.

“So I think you would look at a Chinese firm in a different way but I’m really keen to stress the action we’ve taken here was to step in, because it was one specific company that I thought wasn’t acting in the UK’s national interest, and we had to take the action we did.”

Speaking to broadcasters from Immingham Port in North East Lincolnshire, he said he is “delighted” that the raw materials have been secured to keep the British Steel Scunthorpe plant running.

There have been concerns that Jingye might have purposefully attempted to shut two blast furnaces down by failing to secure enough iron and coal.