Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

http://news.sky.com/story/1568234/re...close-for-good

Someone please explain to me why the British Government has again allowed another BRITISH INDUSTRY to fall.

Yet, spend millions of our money (proudly) go overseas. The Government is setting aside money to train workers made redundant by this closure. Create new job and businesses.

What they should have done, is everything in there power to save the UK Steel Industry. They crippled the mining industry under Thatcher. And yet import coal

We now INPORT steel, yet we have our OWN steel industry

Its like Osborne had sent millions of pounds overseas to create future footballers. Yet wont invest in British ground roots football

I just don't understand what is wrong with this government

re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Closed originally under LABOUR, reopened and given another chance in 2011 under .........guess who.
From June 2011

The Conservatives did try.

re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

What an awful government it is which can't deliver lower taxes, higher benefits/pensions, better services (e.g. nhs, education, housing), more UK jobs (even when they're completely uncompetitive as these would clearly be right now) and lower prices/inflation all at the same time. I can see why he's appalled too because it's not like anything like this happened under his party of choice is it. If it had he'd be struggling to understand what's wrong with them for sure... :rolleyes:

I feel very sorry for those who're losing their jobs but we live in a world in which those who can't compete ultimately fail and no government can carry on writing out cheques to keep people producing stuff nobody wants or is prepared to buy because they can get it much cheaper elsewhere. The best we can hope for is to find alternative employment for the workers and the chance, albeit highly remote, that market conditions might one day make production viable again. I don't see that happening any time soon due to the massive investment that would require.

re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

CF wouldn't be the same without Arthur bashing the Tories at every chance though.

re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

This UK industry was owned by a Thai company which bought it from an Indian company.

re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

I only bash the Tories because they do not care about the British worker. I am proud that l have worked all my life, though Labour and Tory governments.

But for me the Tories have ripped up the British Industry as we know it. Under Thatcher she ruined the Coal Industry, The steel Industry has been ruined by lack of investment by the governments. what next. We cannot ruin the car industry. As most are owned by foreign companies.

Its no good the government investing in training - l have been on there training courses, my god. The training that l had was that bad, then l would be dead before l landed a job

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Was it the training, the trainer, or the trainee? ;)

btw, in 1964, there were 545 coal mines in the UK, reducing to 219 by 1979 - who was in power for most of that time?

290 mines closed under Harold Wilson, versus 160 under Margaret Thatcher....

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Emulating the failure that was British Steel that at its worst was costing the taxpayer £3 million a DAY! is not the answer in a world overflowing with cheap Chinese steel products.

There's little prospect that the plant could have become profitable in the immediate future so the best thing to do is to close it and sort out new jobs for the redundant staff.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

It might be a good idea to remember which party's ex leader and ex environment minister brought forward the 2008 Climate Change act, making UK production of almost any energy intensive goods almost uneconomic.

Also, which party refused Anglesey Aluminium an energy price contract in 2008/9 (AA was probably the only grid connected aluminium plant, heavily dependent on a local nuclear power station)? Leading to the closure of the whole site?

Starts with an L...

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Well I dare say it seemed like a good idea at the time and who could possibly have thought jobs would be lost as a direct result? :rolleyes:

Anyway none of that matters because it wasn't evil Tories who did it so we'll skirt around that one...

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

The Government must do more to protect jobs - simple

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

No it's far from simple which is why all governments have faced such problems and always will, in spite of your refusal to ever accept that fact. Throwing away millions of pounds of taxpayers money into an enterprise which isn't viable isn't going to protect jobs in the long run. All that happens when you do that is that other people wind up paying the price one way or another (because they become uncompetitive, have to raise their prices etc. or taxes have to rise) then people like you start complaining about that too. BL was a classic example of the same thing - countless millions wasted in order to produce cars that, for the most part were pretty poor and too few people wanted. In your world I take it they'd still be doing so in order to keep their workforce employed at the taxpayer's expense and you'd be delighted to be forced to buy their cars despite them being an inferior/higher priced product than their competition's.

It seems you want lower prices and the benefits of market competition and choice when it suits but then complain when that same market competition causes unviable businesses to fold.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

As Osem says, subsidising failing companies is simply not sustainable long term.

You complain that we've closed mines and are importing coal, the simple reason for that is it costs more to dig the coal out of the ground than it does to import it, because British mines are old, deep mines that are expensive to operate. Steelmaking is going through the same issues. It simply costs too much to make steel in the UK.

One major factor in UK heavy industry is that while other nations were busy investing in modernisation of their coal and steel industries, the UK suffered from terrible industrial relations caused equally by short-sighted unions with their "a steelworks is there to create jobs, not make money" mentality. For example, the shipbuilders unions wouldn't allow shipyards to invest in more efficient rolling mills because they were operated by one man, when the older ones took three. So of course UK shipbuilding lost ground to foreign competition.

There is also blame to be had for inept management who knew that the government would bail them out when it all came crashing down, and, when amalgamation and nationalisation came about, spent more time squabbling internally than looking to see what the competition were doing better (or worse) than they were.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Look at it this way.

The British Government send BILLIONS of pounds of OUR money abroad. Yet cannot afford to support British Industry, or the workforce.
That makes me laugh

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

It's about sustainability, Arthur - are you saying that your money (the tax-payer) should be used to support a foreign company (SSI) who cannot run a money-making business?

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

The fact you think a government can unilaterally decide to keep a loss making steelworks going forever is even more laughable.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

You didn't pay much attention did you?

As someone who lives approximately fifteen miles from this. It's got nothing to do with the Tories whatsoever.

Price of steel has fallen through the floor in the past year.
Chinese are producing huge amounts of cheap steel
Chinese companies are not purchasing steel. (main purchasers from the site)

How exactly Arthur is this the tories fault? I'm not a tory fan but to blame this on them is ludicrous.

You want to get angry? Get angry at SSI who were taking workers pension payments but NOT paying them into the plan.

You know, as per usual, the square root of feck all about the issue. Pipe down

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

More steel jobs to go.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34552523

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Caparo goes into administration in further blow to British steel industry.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/...steel-industry

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

What the Government should be doing is MORE to protect the British Industry of Manufacturing.

This country used to have the best industry going. The Government has completely ruined the North East. Wales Scotland, in the shipyards.

The government could have saved so many Industries, but gave Large contracts overseas

My job is even under greater threat now. And our Union is fighting to save my job, all because of severe cut backs that is being carried out by this awful government.

What they are doing is simply crippling this country, yet are sending billions of pounds of OUR TAX MONEY to overseas countries in aid.

Did you see that poor woman on Question Time having a go at the Tory minster, and she could not even look at that poor woman or answer the question.

We import steel and coal what industry is next to go down the plug hole

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

What can they do? Other countries produce these materials cheaper and it isn't helped by having a strong pound.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

I have an idea, why don't we just subsidise every industry which isn't viable then pass on the costs of so doing to ordinary people like Arthur by way of higher prices, taxes etc. ? We could then pay everyone on low incomes/benefits more in order to make up the difference and give further subsidies to the other associated industries which suffer knock on effects of higher costs imposed on them. Simple! What were we all thinking?? :doh:

After all I'm sure that because he's so keen on protecting British jobs at all costs he never buys anything imported and will be delighted to pay more for all the things he needs. I really can't understand why nobody's thought of this... :confused:

:rolleyes:

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

We import steel and coal because, quite simply, it's massively cheaper to do that than to produce it here. Indeed, the requirement for blast furnaces to create "virgin" steel is rapidly diminishing, thanks to the greenies demanding more recycling, and our improved abilities in recycling scrap steel.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Even if the government was of a mind to subsidise uneconomical steel production in this country it is against EU competition rules to do so.

subsidies = higher taxes or more cuts elsewhere.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Exactly. Subsidies can't be kept going forever.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

You seem to be implying there's no magical money tree with which we can bail out every company which finds itself unable to compete with the competition!!... :confused:

;)

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

There was a magic money tree, but it was felled under the chainsaw makers subsidy act 1975...

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Redcar has effectively been subsidised all along.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Theoretically I wonder if there is a case for buying more expensive materials locally than from abroad if more of that money stays in the UK but I am not sure how you would work it out.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Kinda wondering what we do produce apart from hairdressers,estate agents and bankers..

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Sadly sod all compared to 50 years plus ago.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

We used to have the plague and open sewers too, what's your point?

Change is inevitable and it will only continue, the government subsidising a plant losing money hand over fist just should not be allowed to happen it just delays the inevitable

Without change you wouldn't have cities such as Leeds that 25 years ago had nothing going for it turn into high technology centres with huge employers such as sky

You're worried about your job ? Change it ! I had to. Maybe you'll like to go and work down the pit ?? I have enormous respect for the miners but there is no way I would ever or could I ever do that job !!

Lead, follow or get out of the way but don't whinge

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

We're still pretty good at hi-tech: satellites, industrial instrumentation, machine tools and making (other company's) cars.

There's really no future in base commodities / industries here as the cost base is too high even at the minimum wage. If the Chinese want to sell us steel and coal at less than the cost of production just buy it and make products that will give a return.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

I've an idea to, seeing as the Chinese are here why not have Dave tackle them about the decimation of our steel industry instead of fawning all over them. I'm sure you'd agree that'd be a better idea than having yet another pop at Arthur

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...p-imports.html

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Do you mean like he is doing....

http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk...ail/story.html

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

They say Vewwy sowwy Dave. but bisness is bisness.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

If plants are loss-making, then isn't the steel that they produce at below cost, ie dumping.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Precisely what china is doing.....

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

Exactly, the UK is doing what the Chinese are being accused of.

Re: Redcar Steelworks Ovens To Close For Good
 

China's cost of production will be much lower than the UK because they have cheap labour and don't have to follow onerous environmental laws etc.

It's quite possible that China can produce steel at the current world price and STILL make a notional profit.

The fact that we cannot says much about our standards.