Mr (Coventry South)
(Lab): We have been here on two or three occasions,
including with GKN and Bombardier, so one wonders where we are
going, as the steel industry is vital to manufacturing in this
country and, more importantly, to the defence industry. I thank
the Secretary of State for his statement, but I can tell him that
I worked at Rolls-Royce when it collapsed in 1971 and there is no
worse situation an employee can find themselves in; that
situation went on for weeks, until eventually the Heath
Government had to semi-nationalise it. I have the feeling that
you may be back here in a couple of weeks’ time if you cannot
find a buyer, so you will really have to consider that. I hope
you will consider that, because if you do not, you will be
inflicting a lot of pain on a lot of good employees who work very
hard. Once you have experienced something like that, you never
forget it.
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy (Greg Clark): I get the hon.
Gentleman’s gist; I know what he requires. He is right to call
attention to the fact that, notwithstanding the intentions that
everyone in the House has expressed, today is a day that no one
in Scunthorpe, in Skinningrove or on Teesside wanted to see. It
is a very worrying day; people will go to bed tonight very
concerned about their future. We cannot resolve this overnight,
but we can resolve to do everything we practically can to make a
good future possible. I am grateful for the support and
commitments from across the House that we will all do precisely
that.
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