CHINA’S President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan last night slept in the same bed as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Britain is rolling out the red carpet to the Chinese power couple but I should make it clear that the visitors kipped in the same bed that Prince William and Kate Middleton shared on their wedding night at Buckingham Palace. The Royal couple had long since vacated the luxurious Belgian suite before China’s premier and his missus landed for their four day state visit.

We are giving the regime credibility and contracts while its industrial might is strangling our steel industry and putting thousands of North-East workers on the dole. What a trade-off.

Yesterday the visitors enjoyed what was dubbed “an informal lunch with the Queen”. For some of us that might mean cracking open a tin of corned beef but I suspect there was somewhat grander fare on offer.

They later took tea with Prince Charles (more Angel Delight anyone?) and will spend time with David Cameron, meet Jeremy Corbyn and get a tour around Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. President Xi is such a footy fan that after he became president in 2012, football became a compulsory part of the national curriculum in Chinese schools.

According to the international group Human Rights Watch, there is routine use of torture in Chinese jails.

Other concerns are that the Chinese media is heavily restricted by the government, workers' rights are ignored and the air in big cities is polluted by industrial smog.

Instead of a parade down the Mall the President's trip should have included a tour around what are left of Britain’s steel towns. Redcar has already gone, Scunthorpe, Motherwell and Cambuslang could follow.

Casting a long shadow over Britain’s love-in with China is the parlous state of an industry which made the UK world famous. It is suffering from Beijing flooding the market with bargain bin produce which has sent prices into a tailspin. Almost 6,000 direct jobs are at risk, prompting fears that before the end of this parliament Britain will be a former steel-making country. What a dreadful legacy that would be for Mr Cameron following his manifesto pledges to build a Northern Powerhouse and support a resurgent manufacturing sector.

Politicians who have fallen over themselves to cosy up to the Chinese Premier have offered a pitiful response to the steel crisis. While SSI was crumbling George Osborne was in China signing deals that will lead to our railways and nuclear plants being built by Chinese firms. Business Secretary Sajid Javid gave another limp performance in the Commons yesterday in a steel crisis debate where he said "There are limits to what the Government can do." This came a few weeks after Mr Cameron promised his Government would "do all that it can" to keep steelmaking at Redcar. It didn't.  

Time will tell if Boro chairman Steve Gibson's prophecy comes true at the next General Election and voters "bury" those politicians who failed us when they were needed most.

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