MIDDLESBROUGH FC chairman Steve Gibson has joined the fight to save Redcar steelworks.

In a joint statement with Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald, the Boro chairman said: “Our communities face terrible uncertainty and our industrial future as a country is at great risk. The government must surely recognise how important the steel industry is to families and manufacturing not only on Teesside but the entire UK. My hope and plea is that they will not step back from this crisis. The whole point of being in Government is to step up and take action when it is needed and action is certainly needed now if the industry is to be saved.

“There are thousands of individuals and many, many businesses dependent on the blast furnace surviving. The business community on Teesside knows only too well how important steel production is to us regionally and nationally. There are many industrialists monitoring this situation very closely and they are expecting this Government to respond.

Mr McDonald added: “Unless you are one of the workers at SSI, not knowing whether you are going to paid or not, or unless you’ve lived through a similar trauma, it is almost impossible to truly understand what it must feel like to not know whether you’ll be able to meet your next mortgage payment or keep paying your rent.

“But it doesn’t have to be like this,” said Mr. McDonald. “A week ago I stood shoulder to shoulder with my colleagues in the House of Commons standing up for the steel industry here on Teesside and across the country”.

“The shock waves are already rolling out from Redcar. Last time around, a third of the workforce lived in Middlesbrough and I’ve no reason to believe that it is any different this time. The impact of steel closure on Teesside will be devastating. Families are worried and communities are at risk"

Mr Gibson added: “The Government must act. They must intervene to manage the crisis, to be mature and intelligent about this nationally key industry. The people in Redcar, Middlesbrough, Stockton and right across Teesside deserve answers. They’ve given their blood sweat and tears to the steel industry and they rely on those good jobs which will take some replacing if they are lost.”

“They want Ministers to do something for them, right now.

Mr McDonald said: "Minister, Anna Soubry and the Prime Minister have been urged to convene a steel summit of the major players and decision makers to put together a rescue package for the steel industry as a matter of supreme urgency. They have agreed to the summit but it needs to produce positive results in double quick time, the clock is ticking.

“Beyond that commitment, there has been a deafening silence from both the Government and SSI about Redcar, save for the company announcing plans to re structure its debt, but with no talk of what that means for the survival of the blast furnace. They pride themselves apparently on caring for the industry and the people who work in it. If so, the time is now to be straight with people.

“As for the Government, this is not the time to stand back and simply let the markets do their worst.

“A Secretary of State for Business who says he “doesn’t like industrial strategy” should step down and let someone who does believe in an industrial strategy take over. Steel is key to our manufacturing base and capability. If it goes, we will never get it back.

“The government can act. It is a matter of political will. SSI, or any alternative buyer, should be supported by Government so that the workers and suppliers can be paid and the plant sustained to see it into a viable future.

Mr McDonald said: “Government can step in to ease the burden of energy costs and give concessions on business rates. The Government must feed through 100 per cent of the energy intensive industry compensation package now. Other countries have secured state aid clearance retrospectively and so should we.

“The government should look to how other Governments have acted to support their industries. They need look no further than Italy to see how a European Government wasn’t prepared to let its steel industry disappear.

“Meanwhile, the Chancellor is in China guaranteeing the Chinese huge returns on them providing us with nuclear energy. If that’s not state subsidy I don’t know what is. It’s about time he showed the same commitment to Teesside Steelmakers as he does to Chinese investors.

“And whilst he’s there, he can he can tell them to stop dumping their subsidised steel into world markets and destroying our core steel-making industry.

Mr Gibson said: “The Chancellor must immediately work right across government to deliver and fund a credible industrial strategy for this country.

“Saving our steel industry is not an act of nostalgia. Yes, steel making is in our DNA and formed the backbone our industrial past, but it is also a key to our industrial and manufacturing future.

“We need to produce that credible industrial strategy as a matter of supreme urgency.”

Mr McDonald added: “ If we embrace the need for an industrial strategy and deliver upon it, we can look forward to a sustainable future for steel as well as for the industries of the future such as carbon capture and storage, and clean energy from coal, sustaining our chemical and polymers industry, as well as sustaining and promoting solar and other renewable sources to meet the high energy demands of production.

“The Government in Germany and do exactly that and so should we”, said Mr McDonald.

Mr Gibson said in conclusion: “One thing is certain, this is a battle. It is a battle for our core industries and it is a battle for our jobs and our communities - and one we can’t afford to lose”.