As reviled as Thatcher?

Desperate David Cameron is terrified that he will be as reviled as Margaret Thatcher in the history books because of the Conservative’s bungling of the steel crisis and has ordered his ministers to step in and save the industry.

The Prime Minister’s reputation has been significantly damaged after the Tory’s failed to realise the danger exorbitant energy costs and cheap Chinese imports posed to thousands of steel working jobs across the country.

Cameron is now panicking that the loss of one of Britain’s most vital industries will cause as much damage as Thatcher’s infamous persecution of the coal industry in the 1980s, which devastated communities across the country and caused widespread economic deprivation that is still being felt to this day.

According to the Mirror, Cameron has told those close to him that he is worried he will be remembered as “another Margaret Thatcher” if the 40,000 jobs connected to the steel industry go.

A senior government source told the Mirror, “The PM has made clear he does not want this to be his legacy.

“He has specifically told us he does not want to go down in history as another Thatcher.”

Since announcing that he will quit Downing Street before the next general election, the Prime Minister has become obsessed with how he will be remembered, with both Cameron and other senior Conservatives now “deeply regretting” that they did not do more to save the Redcar steel plant which closed last year.

The change of heart has led Cameron to order inept business secretary Sajid Javid to get his act together and save the steel industry, after the UK’s biggest manufacturer, Tata, announced it would close all of its British operations.

A viable future has already been ensured for the former Tata steel works in Scunthorpe as well as a handful of other Long Products plants, after the sale of the sites – which employ 4,400 people – to Greybull Capital last week were facilitated with the help of government loans.

Javid has now said that the government could “co-invest” with a buyer for beleaguered Tata sites across the UK including Port Talbot, Shotton, Rotherham.

Resonance

In Port Talbot, Cameron’s comparison to Thatcher has particular resonance because the town is close by to coal field communities still suffering after the Tories decimated the mining industry, Unite Port Talbot branch secretary Mark “Pasty” Turner explained.

He said, “In the ‘80s Thatcher also went after the steel industry as well as the coal industry, but unlike the pits nearby the Port Talbot plant survived.

“In our neighbouring coal towns and villages communities were ripped apart by Thatcher’s hatred of the coal miners and their union.

“In areas of the south Wales Valleys, where high unemployment and deprivation are the norm, her actions are still being felt.

“If Cameron doesn’t want to be remembered in the same way Thatcher is, he needs to get his finger out and save our steel.”

To galvanise the government into action Mark is urging people to take “steel selfies” of themselves next to steel products and post them online at #steelselfie.

Turner said, “People don’t realise how much steel is part of their everyday lives: knives, forks, spoons, cars, trains and buildings to name but a few objects.

“That’s why we’re asking people to take selfies of steel objects, machines, signs, etc and post them online so that we can show how important having a domestic steel industry is.

“There is not one sector of industry that does not use steel, from farmers to fishermen. The transport, food, clothing and manufacturing industries all depend on it.

“Do we really want Britain to fall behind other countries that have steel making capabilities and lose our control over such an important, versatile commodity?”