CAMERON’S WAR WITH SNP OVER STEEL JOBS
Astonishing political blame game as axe falls on Scottish steel industry after 200 years
DAVID Cameron was last night embroiled in a war of words with SNP politicians as 200 years of steel manufacturing in Scotland came to an end. It followed an announcement by Indian-owned Tata that Scotland’s two remaining major steelworks will be mothballed with the loss of 270 jobs.
Scottish Business Secretary Fergus Ewing claimed that the Prime Minister had already failed to stand up for British steelworkers and should ‘hang his head in shame’.
But the UK Government immediately hit back and warned the SNP minister against playing politics with the livelihoods of Scottish families.
The extraordinary row came as Tata blamed a surplus of cheap Chinese steel for the closures – on the day that China’s President Xi Jinping began a lavish state visit to Britain, which will see him hold talks with Mr Cameron.
Following demands that he raise the plight of the steel industry with Mr Xi, the Prime Minister insisted
that ‘nothing will be off the table’. But Mr Ewing said: ‘What exactly has the Prime Minister been doing over the last few years, when trade unions have been urging him to take effective action, which patently has not happened?
‘The United Kingdom Prime Minister refuses to stand up for a UK industry and we call on him to do so.’
Tata said that 225 jobs would go at the Dalzell plate rolling works in Motherwell and 45 posts at the Clydebridge plant in Cambuslang.
Mr Ewing is leading a Scottish Government task force trying to find a private company to take over production at the Lanarkshire sites but admitted that prospects are ‘bleak’.
A Downing Street source said: ‘Either politicians and parliaments come together and find answers to help people or they can bicker and play the blame game.
‘The UK Government will be doing the first and will leave it to others to decide where the SNP Government stands.’
Last night, Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone said: ‘This is plain daft from Mr Ewing and shows he is more interested in playing politics than dealing with what is
‘More interested in playing politics’
a serious crisis. He should focus on working with the UK Government to help families in Scotland who want to see our two governments working to find a solution.’
But yesterday, workers leaving the Dalzell site were scathing about governments on both sides of the Border.
Steelworker Ian Baillie said: ‘David Cameron wants us to be part of the UK, what has he done for us? Alex Salmond is just as bad. He had the contract for the new Forth Crossing and gave it to the Chinese and Spanish.’
In 2012, Tata said it had indirectly made a bid to supply a ‘significant proportion’ of the steel for the Forth Crossing but missed out on all but a tiny slice of the £1.6billion contract.
Unions say it is impossible to know if the contract could have saved the company.
Speaking outside Dalzell yesterday, Tata Europe human resources director Tor Farquhar insisted that the blame lay with China for churning out cheap steel in an effort to keep its own factories going.
He added: ‘The steel industry in the UK faces massive challenges.
‘These are several fold but the biggest challenge is really the Chinese steel industry and the amount of imports coming into Europe, which is the same tonnage as the whole steel capacity of Europe.
‘In that situation the steel price has collapsed. I’m afraid today’s announcement is a consequence of that global picture.’
Last week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the SNP conference in Aberdeen: ‘We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to find and secure a viable future for these plants and for our steel industry.’
John Park, of the trade union Community, has urged the Scottish Government to subsidise workers’ salaries and fund their training until a buyer can be found to take over the steelworks.
At Westminster yesterday, Labour demanded that Ministers ‘stand up for Britain’ and confront the Chinese.
Tata has confirmed 1,200 jobs will go throughout the UK, including more than 900 in Scunthorpe, Yorkshire. Earlier this month, the SSI plant in Redcar, Yorkshire, was mothballed, with the loss of 2,200 jobs.
On Monday Caparo, which has 20 sites in England and Wales, said it
‘The Chinese are dumping steel’
was set to go into administration, with the loss of 1,700 jobs.
Mr Park criticised UK Government inaction, saying: ‘The cruel irony of the Prime Minister welcoming the Chinese premier as UK steel jobs are cut, partly due to Chinese steel dumping, will not be lost on the UK’s steelworkers.’
During an emergency Commons debate, shadow business secretary Kevin Brennan said: ‘While the Chinese President is riding down the Mall in a gilded state coach, British workers are being laid off because our Government is not standing up for them.’
Another Labour MP said that the UK Government’s attitude to China was that of a ‘supplicant, fawning spaniel that licks the hand that beats it’.
Business Secretary Sajid Javid told steelworkers: ‘For decades, the
UK has prospered on the back of your industry. We will not abandon you now, in your time of greatest need.’
But he claimed the problem could not just be laid at China’s door and other countries were producing too much steel.
Mr Javid added: ‘There are limits to what the Government can do in response.
‘No government can change the price of steel in the global market, no government can dictate foreign exchange rates and no government can simply disregard international regulations on free trade and state aid.’
Unite Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty said: ‘The impact on the Scottish economy which is also being hammered by job losses in North Sea oil will be severe unless there is urgent support.
‘We will be pressing the Scottish Government to live up to its promise to do everything it can to support the steel industry in Scotland and save jobs.’