The
opposition asked for the council to write to the prime minister requesting more
measures to support the national and local steel industry
A Northamptonshire council has shot
down calls from the opposition for the leader to write to the prime minister,
asking for the government to double UK steel production and invest £12bn into
the sector.
In a motion presented at full council (Thursday, April 25)
Labour Cllr John McGhee asked for North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) to
support the long history of the steel industry in Corby and North Northants and
to back the campaign to save UK steel.
The specific points included writing to the prime minister to
ask to expand the steelmaking ability by double, tackling energy prices to make
UK steel more competitive, changing procurement rules to ensure public
contracts use local steel, taking a public stake in the steel industry and
committing to a public investment of £12bn to fund a 'workers transition' to the
sector.
Cllr McGhee continued: "This is not political by any means.
It’s about common sense and ensuring the safety of our workers, the economy of
Britain and the safety and security of Britain.
"Let’s see us unite as a group by
supporting all the residents in North Northamptonshire, particularly the ones
that work down there.
"We don’t want it to become a ghost town overnight. We have
to support this campaign today."
However, the leader of NNC Jason Smithers said that he could not
support the motion purely because of its wording and what he brandished
"ludicrous" requests.
He added: "There’s a requirement from me to write to the
prime minister on this- we say this is not party political but clearly it is.
Why would you not put in your motion to write to the government and the leader
of the opposition maybe? What’s his view on this?
"Is he going to invest these billions of pounds that you’re
asking for into taking a public stake in the steel industry? I think we need to
really get real with some of these motions.
"We have a local MP who... champions the steel industry at
every opportunity around here. Now, it won’t surprise me he will support some
of these parts, but he won’t support this motion because, quite frankly, it’s
ludicrous."
A petition signed by 30,000 people calling for more support of
the UK steel industry will also be handed to Corby politicians today (April 26)
at 4pm. The Unite union said the petition will be sending a "clear message
to Westminster that the UK needs a strong steel industry".
Cllr Zoe McGhee (Labour) stood to speak in support of the
motion: "You think we’ve got pockets of deprivation now, you think we’ve
got low wage rate now.
"Wait until one of our biggest industries has been
completely decimated and then see what happens here. It will get so much worse.
"If we care about that and we want to do something about it
then get ahead of the game and look after local people who are working hard and
deserve a good job and a good living wage."
Other Conservative councillors stood up to profess their support
for the UK and local steel industry, but their inability to support the motion
due to concerns around where the funding would come from and a "naive
approach" to the demands.
In response, the opposition asked why the Conservative
administration had not come up with an amendment that the council could all
agree on, given their shared support for the industry in general, and why there
was an issue in writing to the prime minister.
Cllr Helen Harrison (Conservative) said: "The problem is if
the majority of people in this room don’t actually agree with this motion, the
only option we would have is to write to the prime minister saying ‘we don’t
agree with this, but we’re sending you a letter anyway we’d like you to consider
it’.
"You tend to only lobby the government on something you
believe is the right thing to do. I couldn't possibly support a motion asking
the prime minister to invest £12bn in something I have no idea what it would be
used for and what the outcomes would be."
Ultimately, the motion was lost with 14 voting in favour and 38
voting against.
Cllr McGhee said in his closing statement: "This came
forward not as a political statement, but trying to get people to work
together. And what do you lot do? You turn it down, you don’t grasp it.
"I’m ashamed of you."