Steel campaigners will hand a union-backed petition into Downing Street next week pleading for help for the industry.
More than 11,500 people have put their names to a list of demands calling on the Government to “act to ensure our infrastructure is built with our steel; intervene to support industry and stimulate steel demand; implement trade arrangements that are fair and friction-free; create a level playing field so we can compete; and develop an industrial strategy with steel at its core”.
Crippling energy costs and cheap foreign imports threaten the sector’s future.
Mark Davies, who works at Britain’s biggest steelworks, Tata in Port Talbot, will head to No10 on Monday.
He said: “Without government action our jobs are on the line and plant closures would be absolutely devastating.
“That’s why we’re going to Downing Street to send a message to the Prime Minister.
“We’re going to fight for our industry because at stake are our jobs and our communities, our way of life and our future.”
The petition - organised by the Unite, GMB and Community trade unions - says: “Britain is made from steel - the roads we drive, the bridges we cross, the hospitals that heal us and the schools our children learn in.
“Iconic structures like the Millennium Stadium, the Thames Barrier and the Kelpies – all made from Britain’s steel.
“Whether we realise it or not we are looking at steel every hour of every day, it is essential to our economy and our way of life.”
The campaigners stress that “steel is a great British industry” which “will be the foundation of our post-pandemic recovery”.
They say the sector is “critical to Britain’s economic independence and our national security” and insist that “with government backing, responsible ownership and public support, this great British industry will continue to deliver for our country for many generations to come”.
Community’s general secretary Roy Rickhuss feared the industry was “approaching a cliff edge”.
He told the Mirror: “Soaring energy prices and cheap steel being dumped on our shores have put our industry in jeopardy.
“Britain needs a strong steel industry for a prosperous and resilient economy, to deliver net zero, for our national security, and to safeguard high-quality jobs in places that really need them.
“The Government must step up.
“Their continued lack of support is killing our industry and time is running out. If they don’t act now, we’ll lose our industry forever.
“Thousands of people have signed this petition in support of Government action to protect our industry.
“With the public behind us, the Government cannot ignore us.”
UK Steel’s director-general Gareth Stace the petition “backs up our own recent polling data that showed almost 80% of the British public views domestic steel production as a strategic asset that should be maintained in the UK”.
He added: “The public instinctively understands the importance of steel production and that this country would be considerably poorer without it.
“The coming year will be an extremely challenging one for industry as demand and steel prices weaken, whilst key input costs like energy remain at unprecedented highs.
“This is the backdrop against which the steel sector is facing ever increasing carbon taxes and being called upon to make billion-pound investments to decarbonise their production assets. “The steel sector desperately wants to make those investments in its future, but it cannot do so in isolation and without a firm partnership with government.”
Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Steel, claimed that “instead of supporting the steel sector’s transition to green steel, the British government sits on its hands while competitors in Europe move ahead thanks to state investment”.
He added: “Britain should be seizing the opportunities to bring thousands of high-quality jobs to parts of the country that need them most.
“Offshoring jobs and carbon emissions cannot be an option.”
Fourteen hours and 41 minutes after the Mirror emailed the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy requesting a comment, a Government spokesman replied: "The Government is committed to securing a sustainable and competitive future for the UK steel sector and we are working closely with industry to achieve this.
“We recognise that businesses are feeling the impact of high global energy prices, including steel producers, which is why we announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme to bring down costs.
"This is in addition to extensive support we have provided to the steel sector as a whole to help with energy costs, worth more than £800m since 2013.”
The Mirror has been campaigning to Save Our Steel since 2015 when the industry was hammered by plant closures and thousands of job losses.
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