Tata Steel: Nationalisation is not the answer to industry crisis says David Cameron

The Prime Minister spoke amid growing fears of huge job losses in the industry following the announcement that Tata Steel is to sell its UK assets, putting up to 40,000 jobs at risk, including hundreds in the West Midlands.

He described the situation in Port Talbot as being of 'deep concern' and said there were 'no guarantees of success'.

"I know how important those jobs are," he said.

"Those jobs are vital to workers' families, vital to those communities and the Government will do everything it can, working with the company, to try and secure the future of steelmaking in Port Talbot and across our country, it's a vital industry."

He added that energy costs in the industry had been cut and the Government had helped to make sure there were penalties for steel dumping.

Demands

"We are not ruling anything out. I don't believe nationalisation is the right answer," he said.

Meanwhile Downing Street has rejected demands made by Jeremy Corbyn for the recall of Parliament.

The Labour leader took the unusual step of launching a petition in a bid to push David Cameron into action over the issue.

The petition exceeded 100,000 signatures yesterday meaning it will be debated in Parliament following the Easter recess.

As criticism of the Government's handling of the crisis grew, Unite union boss Len McCluskey said the Prime Minister should take 'personal responsibility', warning that there was a risk not just to the British steel industry but to the UK's entire manufacturing base.

He called for a steel taskforce to be set up, 'with the Prime Minister at its head'.

Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell led calls for the Government to follow the Scottish approach of temporary nationalisation of the steel industry.

He said: "In the long-term, it will prove cost-effective.

"It isn't just the cost of losing those jobs, as we've seen elsewhere it's the cost of devastation of whole communities and, remember, we will be paying out in unemployment benefits and other benefits to those people who lose their jobs."

Business Secretary Sajid Javid cut short a visit to Australia following criticism of his absence from the country with so many British jobs hanging in the balance.

He has already been criticised for failing to join politicians and union leaders who flew to India to lobby Tata's main board as it discussed the fate of its British operations.

The conglomerate opted to pull the plug on its Tata Steel plants in Britain, which are losing nearly £1m a day. It employs 15,000, including more than 600 at sites in Wednesfield and Brierley Hill.