Gordon Brown pledges to help North East thrive

Feb 14 2010 by William Green, Sunday Sun

GORDON Brown has given the Sunday Sun a personal pledge to do everything he can to save the Corus steelworks on Teesside where 1,600 workers face redundancy.

The Prime Minister said the Government was ready to “help” Corus and work with any potential buyer for Teesside Cast Products (TCP), but declined to discuss possible financial support.

The plant is due to be mothballed by the end of the month or when its raw materials run out.

In an exclusive interview, Mr Brown also revealed that he has directly discussed the situation with Ratan Tata, chairman of Corus’s Indian parent company Tata.

He also rejected the idea of the Government buying a stake in the plant to keep it open and 1,600 workers in their jobs.

Speaking to the Sunday Sun, the Prime Minister said: “I have talked to Mr Tata and we continue to do what we can to support the steel industry and to work with the workforce and industry in the region.

“We are committed to seeing the North East economy thrive. So the mothballing of Corus was of course sad news for us all.”

He added: “We have been engaged with the Corus management of Kirby Adams and the issues that the company faces since their main customer withdrew from their contract last year.

“So we have tried to get more investment on Teesside and we will do all we can to support the business.

“There has been an issue about demand for the product. But we will continue to work with Corus to see what can be done.”