Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Labour MP, Ashok Kumar, today (4th December 2009) said that he was personally ‘heartbroken’ by today’s announcement that Corus were to partially mothball the Teesside Cast Products plant.

Ashok said “My personal hurt runs deep, as in the past, as a then British Steel Scientist, I worked on the development of the Redcar Blast Furnace and the associated plant, so I have a close personal affinity with the plant and the workforce affected.  I have worked with many of these people who are highly skilled and dedicated. They are the salt of the earth. I recognise that such an announcement, coming just before the start of the festive season will be devastating to so many families across Teesside .”

“However, all is not lost.  The Plant, after all, has not been closed – merely partially mothballed and, I am told by Corus, will be kept in a state of total readiness for any possible restart, with a full maintenance team kept in employment purely for such an eventuality.  The decision was, I know, a heartbreaking one for both Corus and their parent company, Tata Steel, and, I know, was only finally taken at the very highest board level.”

“I need to stress that bringing a Blast Furnace back on line can be done.  It was recently done at Port Talbot after a shut down of a year, and also at the associated plant at Ijmuiden in the Netherlands”. 

“Corus tell me that they have today spoken to Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and I am told that whilst Corus recognise the state of the market is such that no government could artificially create orders, they will be asking for help from the Prime Minister to see that the workers get the best re-training and re-adaption package that can be devised and set up.   I will be reinforcing this demand with a personal call for the Prime Minister to respond positively to what Corus are saying, and also for Ministers to work with Corus in looking for other industrial uses for the Redcar and Lackenby Site – such as for one of the new generation of carbon capture power stations recently given the go-ahead by government or for other low carbon energy applications.”

“I will also be writing to the Vice Chairman of the main Tata Board. Mr Muthuraman, who I personally know very well, asking him and his colleagues to do everything they can humanly do to see if new partners can still be found so as to restart iron and steel making on the site – which after all is still a world class iron and steelmaking complex.”

Ashok is anxious to help wherever he can and urges anyone who feels could benefit from his advice to contact him. Ashok is holding a surgery today at 4-4.45pm at Guisborough library and would welcome anyone concerned to come and talk to him.