Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Steel and Metal Related Industry, Tom Blenkinsop MP, has today (30 March 2016) demanded that the Government “does whatever it takes to ensure a future for the steel industry in the UK.”
Commenting following the Tata board meeting in Mumbai yesterday on the future of their UK business, which includes the Port Talbot steelworks as well as local sites at Skinningrove and Hartlepool, Tom said:
“Thousands of workers and their families will have started today in limbo. Yesterday was meant to provide clarity over the future of Tata’s sites in the UK – one way or another. This ongoing uncertainty is a disgrace.
“Any assistance must be made available to retain our British steel making capability perfectly reasonable to step in to maintain assets until market settles.
“If the Government are actively looking into some kind of temporary nationalisation then we need details sooner rather than later. However, when I and Redcar MP, Anna Turley, called for state intervention at SSI in Redcar, we were given a definite no by the Government. Things have certainly changed.
“Steel making remains a key industry that is hugely important for our economy and the Government urgently needs to realise that. The Government needs to do whatever it takes to save this vital strategic industry which is the cornerstone of our manufacturing sector.”