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Teesside Steel Industry

I agree with every word that the hon. Gentleman has said. I hope he is saying that we have to keep the works open. If he is, I am wholeheartedly with him all the way. The sentiments he expresses are similar to those expressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon (Mr. Anderson). In my constituency, we have the world class Skinningrove rolling mills, which until now have concentrated on small sections for the construction machinery sector. They have recently moved into supplying sections for the wind farm industry, which is seen as a sector where exponential growth can be expected. The mills have a vigorous and dynamic management and a committed work force who want the plant to grow and prosper. I have helped the mills over recent months by brokering an offer from the local authority, Redcar and Cleveland borough council, for business rate relief. That offer is substantial, and I hope the Minister will join me in praising the dynamic management and the work force of Skinningrove works for their hard work and commitment. I come to the subject of Teesside Cast Products and the disastrous news about the mothballing of the integrated iron and steel plants of Redcar and Lackenby. There is also the sad news that 1,700 steelworkers might be made unemployed. Furthermore, it is estimated that 8,000 people down the supply chain will lose their livelihoods. The autonomous complex within Corus called Teesside Cast Products was once seen as the future of steelmaking—not just in the north-east, but in the whole country. The future of Teesside Cast Products was secured by a deal with a consortium that agreed to purchase almost 80 per cent. of the plant's output until 2014. That consortium included steel traders from Korea, Mexico and Italy. However, when the demand for steel across the world dried up, the partners, led by the Italians, tore up the agreement and announced that they would not buy any more steel. I place on the record my great praise for all the efforts made by my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Redcar to reach commercial solutions with the consortium to preserve production at Teesside Cast Products. In fact, she went to Italy to try to persuade the Italians to come back to the table. She displayed great courage. On Teesside, all is not lost. After all, the Teesside Cast Products plant has not been closed completely and, according to Corus, will be kept in a state of total readiness for any possible restart. A full maintenance team will be kept in employment purely for such an eventuality. I need to stress the fact that bringing a blast furnace back online can be done. It was recently done at Port Talbot, after a year's shutdown. It was also done at the associated Corus plant at IJmuiden in the Netherlands. I recognise that the Government have said that they are prepared to help Corus on Teesside, but that seems to be limited to the same recipe of cash for training and retraining. That support is important and helps those displaced by the Corus announcement to find other employment in the local labour market. Positive action in finding other industrial uses for the Redcar and Lackenby site is also welcome. That could be one of the new generation of carbon capture power stations recently given the go-ahead by Government, or used for other low-carbon applications. However, I still believe that that is not enough.