Labour calls for urgent action to stop steel 'death spiral'

Labour accused the Government of "sitting on their hands" amid the growing steel crisis.

Responding to the latest jobs cuts at Tata Steel, shadow business secretary Angela Eagle called for urgent action by the Government and the EU Commission.

“This is devastating news for all of the workers, their families and the close-knit communities affected," she said.

“Labour has long called for David Cameron’s government to take immediate action to help the steel industry, but they’ve sat on their hands while the industry has descended further into crisis.

“Only by taking immediate and decisive action, not least by fully engaging at an EU level, can the Government make sure our steel industry survives so that it can benefit from planned infrastructure spending. If this doesn’t happen urgently, the Tories’ laissez-faire attitude to our steel industry could lead the downturn into a death spiral."