Angela Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, responding to steel unions’ last ditch plea to SSI and the UK Government for action, said:

“The steel industry is of vital strategic importance to the UK economy, and the latest developments show that it is a crisis point for the steel industry on Teesside.

"As a matter of urgency, SSI must make it clear to the Government what support they require, and in turn the Government must keep to its promise of doing everything possible to keep steel making on Teesside, in the first instance by protecting key assets.

"The time for action is now.”