"UK steel industry at critical crossroads"
The director of the UK's trade association has warned the government that the steel industry is at a critical crossroads.
Gareth Stace urged the ministers to decide whether they are prepared to do everything they can to prevent further trauma.
“Time is not on our side...ever since the business secretary called for the emergency steel summit two weeks ago the clock has been ticking. Time is rapidly running out and the steel industry needs assurances from government that it is going to deliver on its promises,” said Stace.
Reports say the industry is facing the double impact of high energy costs and the dumping of steel from heavy producers such as China. In the past few weeks about 5,000 job cuts have been announced in the sector by Tala Steel, SSI UK, which owns the Redcar steelworks, and Caparo Industries, many of whose subsidies have gone into administration.
Over the past few weeks, British Prime Minister David Cameron has been accused of misleading steelworkers losing their jobs after the recent crisis in the industry.
The accusation came after it was emerged that an £80m fund to help the workers find new work will partly be used to pay their final salaries and redundancy packages.
Cameron has rejected the accusation saying the government had done a lot to help the thousands of steelworkers being made redundant in Teesside and elsewhere.
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