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The Corus steel plant in Redcar on Teesside has become the latest casualty of corporate capitalism. Executives at Corus's owners, the Indian Tata corporation, confirmed that more than a century and a half of steel-making in the north-east of England will come to an end on Friday when the firm's Redcar blast furnace begins shutting down.

According to the Chief Executive at Corus,  Kirby Adams, the closure was a result of an Italian consortium refusing to honour a deal to buy the plant's steel! This poses the question of how much steel is currently imported into England. It is likely to be more than enough to keep the Redcar works open. Questions also have to be asked as whether closure of the plant and asset stripping had always been the intention of the multinational Tata corporation. With Tata’s intention to more than double steel production over the next three years its clear the workers in Redcar are simply sacrificial lambs on the altar of capitalism, with steel production likely move production elsewhere.

However the loss of an Italian order is not the main reason why the Redcar works are closing. It will make savings on its carbon allowances, allocated by the EU under its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). By ceasing to emit a potential six million tonnes of CO2 a year, Corus will benefit from carbon allowances which could soon, according to European Commission projections, be worth up to £600 million over the three years before current allocations expire. So much for the polluter paying the price. Once again the real price is being paid by the people.

Over 8000 more jobs on Teeside depend on the Redcar works, so its closure is going to have a huge impact on local communities. Economically the effect will be felt nationally as steel production is the measure of a nation’s manufacturing capacity, so once again a huge chunk of England’s manufacturing base is to be lost.

As English Radicals and distributists we condemn this closure and the way multinational companies have a stranglehold over much of the English economy. How can our country dig its way out of a recession when we are closing down vast segments of our manufacturing base and condemning thousands of workers to the dole queue? Why do we import steel of a lesser quality when we can produce the finest steel in the world here in our own country? Why can’t we make steel plants such as Redcar cleaner and greener using technicians here in England? Does it make common sense to allow livelihoods and industry to be lost and spend money on social security benefits rather than saving jobs on Teeside?

Our industries need to be wrestled from foreign and multinational ownership, so our economic destiny is in our own hands and not those of businessmen in India, China, Japan, and the USA etc. We need to impose strict import controls so our businesses do not face unfair competition from abroad. Last but not least we need to support our industry, with the government nationalising or purchasing a ‘golden share’ to ensure our industries survive. In the case of Redcar, after initial nationalisation, a partnership could be created between the government and workers which would eventually see the plant operate independently as a co-operative, possibly networking with other steel plants in England to ensure ALL survive.  This would make far greater sense than seeing many of the workforces surviving on government money through social security handouts for the foreseeable future. It would safeguard and create jobs as well as maintaining our manufacturing capacity. 

The ball is firmly in the government court. Do they wish to pay for the collapse of yet another English industry in the loss of jobs, social security payments and the effect on communities in the north east of England – or do they have the courage to invest in our industry and our people for the future. Over to you Gordon!

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