A NORTH-EAST MP called on the Government to keep ‘Britain at the forefront’ of the world’s steel industry at a debate on the industry’s future.

On Tuesday, Redcar MP Anna Turley said she had called for action to prevent a re-run of the crisis that was felt on Teesside, following the closure of Redcar Steelworks in 2015.

Ms Turley, who said she was not just “fighting” for the 700 British Steel workers on Teesside, but for the industry, said the hard closure of Redcar Steelworks was a devastating demonstration of what happens “when the industry is failed”.

She also urged the Government to keep the country at the centre of the world’s steel industry by backing the 'world-leading' Materials Processing Institute on Teesside.

At the Westminster Hall debate, she said: “Yet again we are here in another steel crisis whilst steelworkers are sat at home hoping and praying they still have a salary to provide for their families.

“I am here today not just to fight on behalf of the 700 British Steel workers on Teesside, but also because of what happened to us in Redcar in 2015.

“The average salary in Redcar is down £10,000 a year, many have had to move away to find work – I met a worker a month ago who has had 13 different jobs since losing his job at the steelworks.

“This is the kind of insecurity and economic disaster we have if the Government does not stand by our steel industry.”

Thousands of jobs in the North-East and further jobs in the wider supply-chain are at risk if a buyer for the second-largest steel producer in the country, British Steel is not found.

Speaking about the institute, which develops research on new materials, steel processing and technology for companies across the world, Ms Turley said: “We can’t beat China and others on price but we can on lighter, stronger, and greener steel.

“The Materials Processing Institute in my constituency do fantastic work.

"They are 75 years old, forming just after D-Day. They support the development of really important innovations and if we don’t support organisations like the Institute already doing work on this, we will see more redundancies and huge capability lost.”

Ms Turley added that a no-deal Brexit would be detrimental to the steel industry.