SIX months ago David Cameron refused to hand over cash that could have saved Teesside steelworks.

Despite pledging to “do all that he could” to keep steelmaking in the North-East, Mr Cameron eventually decided that using public funds to bail out a failing firm was deemed a step too far when Redcar asked for help.

Why then has the Prime Minister now agreed to sanction support for Tata’s loss-making Port Talbot works that amounts to part-nationalisation of a private business?

The fear of losing public support ahead of the upcoming EU referendum is surely a factor.

The rationale behind why Redcar was allowed to shut – that it would have been an act of throwing good money after bad – also applies to Port Talbot. Like SSI, the South Wales site is haemorrhaging cash at an alarming rate and there are no signs that the global steel crisis is going to let up any time soon.

Tellingly the pledge of support was announced on a day when the attention of the news media was focussed on the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations.

The Government’s handling of the steel crisis has lacked a sense of urgency, purpose and clarity of vision. Ministers have dithered over what support to offer Tata – first saying that all options were on the table, then ruling out any form of nationalisation, and now offering to take a minority stake of up to 25 per cent in the troubled steel plants.

We nevertheless welcome the latest move that could protect jobs, not least those of Tata’s Hartlepool workers, but it will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Redcar folk.

If ministers had shown them similar support, by mothballing the blast furnace and keeping the coke ovens alight, then the 170-year history of Tees steelmaking might have continued.