Steel crisis: Black Country MPs say 'political dinosaur' Heseltine should be 'put out to pasture'

The former Tory deputy prime minister said now is 'probably as good a time' as any for steel workers to lose their jobs and it would be 'very expensive and questionable' for the Government to seek to keep plants open.

Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden has now said 'there is nothing good about' his comments, while West Midlands MEP and UKIP councillor Bill Etheridge said Heseltine should be 'put out to pasture'.

And Andrew Johnson, Wolverhampton's cabinet member for resources, insisted it is 'in the long term interest of the economy of the UK' to be able to produce steel itself.

Mr McFadden said: "These are very insensitive comments. There is never a good time for anyone to lose their job.

"Communities like Redcar and Scunthorpe have been hit very hard in recent weeks. Thousands of job losses have been announced.

"Recent history means my constituents know more than the most about the bitter pain of steel job losses. They mean lost incomes, lost pride and hope and can be devastating for the families involved. There is nothing good about it."

Mr Etheridge has worked in the steel industry for 20 years. He said he was 'angry' at Heseltine's comments and that the Lord had shown 'a complete lack of understanding'.

"It's time this political dinosaur is well and truly put out to pasture," he said.

"Not only is he utterly irrelevant but his comments show a complete lack of understanding not only for the workers and their families but for the need to have a steel industry.

"The reason I am so angry about this is that I have worked in the steel industry for 20 years and have had personal dealings with the plants and the people who work in them."

Councillor Andrew Johnson added: "That's a really unhelpful comment. Just because any industry such as the steel industry that is on a medium to long-term basis is being affected by the exchange rate at the moment does not mean that we should let that industry disappear.

"I think that's a very unhelpful thing to say.

"It's in the long-term interest of the economy of the UK to have the ability to provide steel ourselves. Obviously we can go down the route of the concentrated industry of specialist steel but having said that we should support the steel industry nationwide and certainly in this region."

Lord Hesletine's comments come after a disastrous week for the nation's steel workers.

Caparo Industries, which has 1,700 jobs in the Black Country alone, called in administrators.

Part of the wider Caparo group owned by Lord Paul of Marylebone – Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton – it is the biggest manufacturing business in the Black Country, based in Oldbury and with 20 other sites at Cradley Heath, Willenhall, Bilston, West Bromwich and Wednesbury.

It will continue as a going concern under administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) while attempts are made to forge a long-term future for the business.

Some 34,000 jobs at 1,700 companies are dependent on the supply of steel in the region

Nationally, almost 3,500 jobs have been axed in recent weeks as the UK industry faces the threat of extinction.

Lord Heseltine, who has been a close adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron on economic growth, said: "If you ignore market forces the chances are that you will have an industrial strategy based on supporting yesterday's industry. The market is unstoppable and invariably it wins.

"There is an over-supply of steel at the moment and so trying to sustain individual plants is a very expensive and questionable activity.

"Very painful for the people who suffer but on the other hand, if you are going to lose your job this is probably as good a time because the number of new jobs in the economy today is one of the most exciting features of this economy compared with many others."