WHEREVER I go people come up to me expressing their support for the work everyone's doing fighting for UK Steel – in particular Scunthorpe Steel.
Whether it be going round the stalls at Lindsey Lodge's Christmas Fair or talking to Scunthorpe United supporters in the Iron Bar (whilst highlighting the white ribbon campaign for victims of domestic violence), everyone has grabbed a word with me about the challenge facing our steel industry. Steel is in our community's DNA.
The support was loud and clear in the overwhelming turnout from local people for the Save Our Steel March. Everyone was welcome and it felt like everyone turned up!
I was struck by the people coming out of their businesses and homes to cheer the steelworkers and their families on.
I was amazed by vehicles, from buses to police cars, beeping their horns to show their support.
This was our community coming together to show its strength and determination.
Working with the employers' group UK Steel and the trade unions, steel MPs have been in the forefront of the battle to make our Government sit up and act before it is too late.
All we've ever asked for is action to level the playing field so UK steel can compete on equal terms. That's why I used my question to the Prime Minister in September to ask for a Steel Summit.
A Steel Summit that eventually took place. A Steel Summit that brought all key stakeholders together across the industry. A Steel Summit at which for the first time Government began to listen to the arguments we've been making for years.
Following on, I used my question to the PM in October to ask him to meet with North Lincolnshire MPs to see what more could be done to ensure Scunthorpe Steel has a bright future to match its bright past.
And last week I led that cross- party delegation of MPs to see the Prime Minister.
He was well briefed on the issues and said all the right things. But – as I politely pointed out – words alone are no longer enough.
We need actions.
Actions on energy costs and action on business rates.
And we should build the things we need – our infrastructure – with British steel not Chinese Communist steel!
In the same way the last Labour Government intervened to support Jaguar Land Rover, this Conservative Government must intervene to support the UK steel industry today to ensure its future success.
That's why steelworkers from across the country came together in a rally in Sheffield on Saturday to keep the pressure on. We can't afford to get this wrong. Hopefully the Chancellor will match his words with actions and, by the time you read this, he will have announced measures in his Autumn Statement to support the steel industry. Because you can't have a 'northern powerhouse' without steel, you can't support the 'march of the makers' without a prosperous manufacturing industry founded on steel. He needs to step up to the plate!
Source: http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/