If David Cameron believes in the “northern powerhouse” why has he abandoned the Redcar steelworkers?

Last Updated: September 29, 2015By


According to politics.co.uk…

It is the government’s duty to step in and secure the steelworks so that we do not lose the industry on Teesside for good. The industrial marvel that is Redcar blast furnace cannot be allowed to collapse because the government is turning its back. It is a national asset for British steelmaking which needs to be properly mothballed so that when the global market turns, we can start producing again.

David Cameron has a clear opportunity here to show he believes in the future of UK industry. If he truly wants to see a ‘march of the makers’ and a ‘northern Powerhouse’, he must step in and secure our steelworks.

The Tories claim state aid rules prevent them from acting but other countries in Europe including France, Germany and Italy have all taken action to support their steel industries. We need to see the same positive approach by the British government.

Source: If David Cameron believes in the “northern powerhouse” why has he abandoned the Redcar steelworkers?

So, what do you think will happen? It’s time for a poll.

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10 Comments

  1. Chris Kitcher September 30, 2015 at 8:34 am - Reply

    More importantly and not even mentioned in the press is “why is that moron Osborne encouraging the Chinese to bid to build HS2 when he should be investing in Redcar and other home industries by encouraging them to build it?

    • David Bacon September 30, 2015 at 12:09 pm - Reply

      Because the press is slavishly right wing.

  2. Martin Odoni September 30, 2015 at 9:46 am - Reply

    The mistake they’ve made is that they didn’t rename the steelworks, “The Redcar Bank PLC”. If they’d done that, Osborne would be tripping over himself to bail it out.

  3. Joan Edington September 30, 2015 at 10:39 am - Reply

    I wouldn’t hold my breath Mike. They had no qualms about closing Ravenscraig back in the 1990s, when it was the largest hot strip steel mill in Western Europe, having been one of the longest continuous casting, hot rolling, steel production facilities in the world (excuse the Wikipedia c&p but my technical knowledge of steel-making is limited, to say the least). The area round the steelworks was killed off in one fell blow since so many other companies and services supported them or were dependent on them. Thousands lost their jobs. Tories don’t give a flying f*** about workers or communities, as you well know.

  4. David Bacon September 30, 2015 at 10:48 am - Reply

    The so called ‘Northern Powerhouse” is just something Cameron and Osborne dreamed up for electoral purposes. Northern Poorhouse, more like!

  5. argotina1 September 30, 2015 at 4:24 pm - Reply

    This is from today’s ‘Times’

    Taxpayers are to lend £45 million to a company controlled by Roman Abramovich, one of the world’s richest men, as part of a government export drive.

    Part of the £45 million loan to Evraz, the international steel mills group, will be used to contract Primetals Technologies, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Siemens, to upgrade its steelmaking facility in Saskatchewan, Canada.

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/industrials/article4571267.ece

    • Mike Sivier September 30, 2015 at 5:17 pm - Reply

      Thanks for bringing that to our attention.
      I suppose it’s too late to write to my (Tory) MP and tell him I don’t want my money going there – I want it going to Redcar!

  6. Nick September 30, 2015 at 6:31 pm - Reply

    David Cameron doesn’t even know redcar location like Mrs thatcher if’s north of watford your out of luck

  7. wildswimmerpete September 30, 2015 at 8:14 pm - Reply

    You can’t mothball blast furnaces. Unless the furnace is continually fired, as soon as it cools down the refractory lining will need replacement. The Redcar furnace is being allowed to cool and worse still, there is some slag remaining which will have to be dug out. I understand that could result in structural damage that would necessitate what amounts to rebuilding the furnace. I suspect the Tories want the plant dismantled.

  8. mrmarcpc October 1, 2015 at 4:05 pm - Reply

    Because he, and the tories in general, don’t care and like the North, they think we’re poor, uncouth, uneducated scum, there was no way in hell he was going to help Teesside, if it was one of his fellow posh boy or girl pals businesses that had gotten into trouble, he’d help them in a heartbeat but working class ones, forget it, they can go under with many job losses and then they come out with their same old rhetoric, if a company can’t sustain itself, then the government won’t help bail them out, ahem, excuse me tory boys and girls, remember the channel tunnel!
    Whenever the tories are in power, you can guarantee there’ll be loads of people losing their jobs and industries getting into trouble and going out of business, they never have protected the country’s industries, always selling them off and weakening the infrastructure of the country while they get nice and fat off the deals that they’ve made and the people continue to suffer like Teesside is suffering right now, a thriving and proud industry there going to the wall!

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