UK steel industry needs support

Opposition MPs are urging the UK government to provide loans to steel companies facing a sudden drop in demand due to the coronavirus. Labor MP Stephen Kinnock said: “There can be no post-pandemic economic recovery without a strong and healthy steel industry. Nothing really can work in this country in terms of the manufacturing sector without steel. Steel is found in the offices we work in, the cars we ride, the trains we ride, even the cutlery we eat with. "

Mr Kinnock said he believes the loans to the metals firms will be repaid and he urged the government to consider the cost for the taxpayer not to intervene to support them.

In May, 10 Welsh parliamentarians wrote to the Chancellor asking for additional support for the sector during the pandemic. As stores begin to open and the government is pressured to chart its plans to rebuild the UK economy, there are still big questions about the role steel will play in the country's economic recovery.