We saved the banks at huge costs, so there could be a precedent on those grounds to save the steelworks. There could also be a strategic argument.
Geoff Buck, Newton Abbot, Devon
Happy memories of working at a steelworks in Teesside. To see that community take another kick in the teeth is sickening, and I would have liked to see more done to save them. I’m also not happy that the nation will soon have no ability to make steel.
Gary Lock, Dorking, Surrey
Importing goods that could be used in the defence industry leaves Britain in a vulnerable situation.
Colin Devereux, Bristol
With state-controlled economies deeply involved, it’s not just market forces – it’s global ambitions. We must not become dependent on imported steel.
David Tighe, Bristol
We have to concentrate on doing and making what we are good at. The government should not have prolonged the existence of the steelworks on Teesside.
Gordon Neilson, Glasgow
Maybe my spectacles are rose-tinted, but I think British suppliers are capable of securing a significant percentage of work without any guarantees.
William Richardson, Buckinghamshire
Very difficult to know what government could do. It could reduce power costs and waive various corporate taxes and the like, but I don’t think this would make our steelworks competitive in any way.
Keith Herber, Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk
The government states its hands are tied in terms of being able to save industries that would give it an advantage in Europe. Of course, this does not apply to banking, which if in trouble is propped up by us.
Mel Plumridge, Chelmsford, Essex
It is to be expected that it would close, after we allowed ownership of the steelworks to move outside the UK. When you have governments that are interested in supporting only banks and the City of London, what can you expect?
John Hopkins, Aberdeen
We can’t tell whether keeping the site ticking over would be of any benefit. The least the government should do is to help the workers find alternative employment.
Neil Dinmore, Derby
Of course the government should do more. It has the responsibility to support key industries. Pure market forces are a myth.
Fenwick Kirton-Darling, Hexham
The government contributed to the closure of SSI because of its punitive energy and emission charges. To provide an equal playing-field, the carbon emission charges should be added to the importing nation and subtracted from the producing nation.
Brian Edmonds, Farnham, Surrey
The closure is the result of years of government policy failing manufacturing industry. This country has cripplingly high energy costs for industry, compounded now by the Chinese dumping cheap steel on to the world market. Rather than attempting to sell as much UK infrastructure to China as possible, perhaps our Chancellor should have focused on getting something back for UK manufacturing?
Paul Cole, Orsett, Essex
My experience with Chinese mills is that they produce reasonably OK structural steels but struggle to make, and hold, the quality of high-grade precision steels for componentry with elevated duty cycles.
Tony Scrivens, Telford, Shropshire
For SSI specifically – probably not. From a more general view, since energy pricing seems to have been a root cause behind the plant closure, action should be considered on energy pricing across the board that would have benefited energy-intensive manufacturing across the whole country.
Roger John, Bridgend
If ‘save’ is code for subsidising, then the answer is, sadly, no. This is simply evidence of a globally dysfunctional trading system that allows state support for below-cost manufacturing, with surplus production dumped on the world markets.
John Thorogood, Aberdeenshire
The government is happy to support entrepreneurs and investors in new starts along with failed banks but not key industries. The recent government-backed studies and summit, once the steel industry had all but died, are lacking any conviction to move from a mainly service economy.
Peter Airey, Crieff, Perthshire
I am in favour of a free market. But given the different conditions of doing business around the world, it is not a fair market. However, the decline of heavy industries is inevitable and there is nothing the government can do, short of vast subsidies.
Jeff Bulled, Lidlington, Bedfordshire