The Tories were not interested in the steel crisis – until the expected loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs turned it into a political meltdown. Here’s how it happened:

Thursday 24 March

David Cameron jets off to Lanzarote for an Easter break.

Monday 28 March

Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock travels to Mumbai to lobby Tata on behalf of British workers. He is joined by officials from Community, the steelworkers’ union.

Tuesday 29 March

Tata announces it will pull out of all of its UK operations.

George Osborne does not offer a comment.

Wednesday 30 March

The full scale of possible job losses is estimated at 40,000, including the supply chain, if the Tata plants close.

Conservative Business Secretary Sajid Javid begins to fly to Australia.

Jeremy Corbyn travels to Wales to visit the communities affected. While he is there he calls for recall of parliament to debate the crisis and launched a petition to bring back MPs.

Anna Soubry, Javid’s deputy, says “all options” for saving Tata’s UK plants are on the table.

Within hours Javid rules out nationalisation of steel in an interview to Australian media.

Following pressure from Labour MPs and activists, Javid begins to fly back to deal with the problem.

Stephen Kinnock attacks the “abject failure” of Government that has led to this point.

It emerges George Osborne rejected measures to support British steel in the Budget in an attempt to reach his £10bn surplus.

Cameron flies back from Lanzarote to respond to the crisis.

Thursday 31 March

Cameron chairs a meeting of Government ministers to discuss the crisis and says he is “not ruling anything out” – before immediately ruling out nationalisation as “not the right answer”.

Len McCluskey, Unite’s general secretary, calls on the Government to support the “foundation” industry of steel.

Corbyn’s petition reaches 100,000 signatures. The Prime Minister’s office has already told reporters they will not be recalling parliament.

John McDonnell, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, outlines a four-point plan for steel industry, including temporary nationalisation.

Javid is ordered back to Britain. It emerges he took his daughter to Australia (at his own expense) and was planning a family holiday after the official visit.

Kinnock calls on Javid to resign, saying he should not have scheduled a holiday when he knew such important decisions were going to be made.

Friday 1 April

The European Steel Association claim the Conservatives are the “ringleaders” in blocking higher tariffs for Chinese steel at EU level, enabling them to undercut local producers.

Javid finally visits Port Talbot and tells workers he is “on their side”. While he was there he confirms the jobs announcement did not come as a surprise.

Lord Mandelson, a former Business Secretary, urges the Government to reconsider temporary nationalisation.

It emerges Tata Steel is considering a stake in German steel plants, demonstrating the hostility of the British steel industry. This is confirmed by the Wall Street Journal.