I LEAPT off my sofa in anger when Conservative parliamentary candidate Rory Stewart tried to take advantage of the devastating closure of the Redcar steelworks on BBC1 Question Time last week, suggesting the Government didn’t act soon enough to find a buyer or negotiate keeping the plant open.

To comply with what Mr Stewart was saying would have meant to start this process before Tata Corus made the decision to mothball the plant.

Unlike Tata Corus, not all foreign multinationals operating industrial premises in the UK intend to close them down; some continue to create jobs.

How irresponsible would it be to try to negotiate the sale of a plant when we don’t yet know that it is closing down; that could cost jobs rather than save them. Plus, no buyer would take such a process seriously.

In this case, the problem was caused by the fact that Tata owned the steelworks in the first place. Negotiating with an organisation which can already have what it wants is futile.

I hope no one was taken in by Mr Stewart’s cynical political opportunism and I wish Business Secretary Lord Mandelson all the best with the unenviable task of bringing business and jobs back to Teesside. It can be done.

Jeremy Whiting, Great Lumley, Chester-le-Street, Co Durham.

THE scenes of Corus workers leaving work last week were devastating for Redcar and the rest of Teesside. Gordon Brown’s Government thinks this is just about a steel plant on Teesside. It isn’t. It is about much more.

Some 1,600 people have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. There will be a knock-on effect to the surrounding area, too, which will be felt in cafes, restaurants, shops and other local businesses.

We are repeatedly told that this is simply mothballing, not closure. In that case, Teesside should be a top priority for the Government.

This area has suffered a major blow and we are in urgent need of investment, jobs and hope.

Steve Mastin, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Redcar.