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The Government has been blasted for saying it is “determined to ensure a viable future for Teesside steelmaking” - five months after the former Redcar SSI site closed.

The Conservative Government’s pledge comes in response to a petition created last September as the SSI crisis unfolded.

The petition, created on the official Parliament petition page by Zoe Burley, was headed “Please help keep Teesside steelmaking open.”

It stated: “Without Steelmaking, Teesside as a whole will become a ‘ghost town’ with so many hard workers out of jobs and smaller companies struggling due to the major loss.

(Image: Doug Moody Photography)

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"We need your help to save the people of Teesside - because it’s not just the workers who will suffer. It’s all of us.”

In October - the month SSI UK went into liquidation and the Redcar steelworks closed - it passed through the 20,000 signature mark, therefore forcing the Government to respond.

With the number of signatories currently more than 23,000, the Government has now replied.

poll loading Is the Government doing enough to support the British steel industry? 0+ VOTES SO FAR YES NO

And the first line of that response states: “The Government is determined to ensure a viable future for Teesside Steelmaking and the UK steel industry by acting on cheap imports, energy costs, procurement, and emissions regulations.”

The response today, from the Department For Business, Innovation and Skills, says the UK steel sector is facing “unparalleled global conditions” and details its efforts to deliver on five key “asks”: lower energy costs, EU emissions regulations, support for UK steel in major construction projects, unfair international trading practices and business rates.

Regarding Redcar , it details support offered so far to the SSI Task Force, including £2.4m for a hardship fund, £5.6m for retaining, £1.7m to help former SSI apprentices complete their apprenticeships, £0.75m for business advice and start-up grants and £32.5m for “a range of support for companies in the SSI supplies chain, to help them diversify, grow and create jobs within the local economy.”

It also mentions the appointment of Lord Heseltine to lead the Tees Valley Inward Investment Initiative.

And it concludes: “Whilst this crisis continues there is more that can and must be done. The Government will therefore continue to do all it can in the coming weeks and months to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for UK steel.”

But Redcar Labour MP Anna Turley called it a “totally bizarre response which shows the Government is completely out of touch with the reality of what it has done to Teesside.”

She said: “Surely they know their failure meant the death of 175 years of steel making on Teesside, which cannot be undone?

“The Government chose a hard closure over mothballing the blast furnace or preserving the coke ovens. That means it’s over.

“We are, of course, looking locally at what viable steel-related industries can rise from the ashes, but we cannot relight the furnace or mend the crumbled ovens.”

All petitions run for six months.

When a petition hits 100,000 then the issue will be debated in Parliament.

The deadline to sign the steelworks petition is March 25.