"Are these people going to be thrown on the scrapheap or is the British Government going to intervene, and maintain steel making in Britain- it's that simple" 

I have recently been reading the unauthorised biography of our prime minister, Call me Dave, written by former Tory party donor Michael Ashcroft and former Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott. Apart from the well-publicised sticking his willy in a pigs mouth, the book features a great deal on Cameron’s Enid Blightonesque childhood; long summer days by the pool drinking homemade lemonade by the swimming pool with his hooray henry chums. His fabulously well to do parents, busy doing their bit for the local charities and have afternoon cake and tea with the countryside’s elite. Despite suggestions that the book was revenge for Ashcroft not getting a cabinet role from his former friend Cameron, it’s not a complete hatchet job. It hints strongly that several of the most powerful men and women in the country once had a fondness for illegal substances but is rather sympathetic when describing the heart breaking loss of his son, Ivan in 2009. Ashcroft’s description of the numerous late night visits to hospital with his severely disabled son while trying desperately to maintain his grip on leading the party paints a picture of a dedicated father and husband who cares deeply and is eternally grateful to the NHS.

The book talks about Cameron’s brave decision making on tackling drugs following a close family members’ battle with addiction. Indeed, the work tome leaves the reader in little doubt that Dave does care deeply about the things he has been effected by personally. The experiences he has had in his oh so privileged life have certainly left a lasting mark on the man.

The problem with Dave leading our country of course is that the things he hasn’t experienced. He probably has never known anyone personally who has depended on benefits. Nor has he known anyone struggling to find a home, relying on social housing to put a roof over their hungry heads. He probably has never lived next door to someone employed in the steel works.

When he says his government is doing “everything it can” to save thousands of jobs does he really have the same conviction as when he talks of things close to his own heart?

Tata steel who employ around 15,000 people (and supports hundreds more in local communities) announced this week that it intends to sell the business, claiming it is losing up to £1m per day. What really sticks in the throat of people in this country is Cameron’s government’s lack of action. There has been a shadow hanging over these jobs since January when plans to shed jobs was announced, while the Tories have failed repeatedly to take any meaningful action to help the thousands facing joblessness. The company blamed difficult market conditions with many commentators accusing the Chinese of producing cut price (and poor standard) steel, pricing British firms out of the market. The Chinese allow subsidised energy bills to their companies while our government refuse to do the same to support our companies as well as opposing an opportunity to add tariffs to Chinese imports.

Two days ago the Tata board met in Mumbai to try to find a plan to save the Port Talbot plant in Wales. Welsh Labour MP and son of former leader Neil Kinnock, Stephen Kinnock attended the meeting along with community trade union delegates to lobby the owners.

Not a single cabinet minister attended the all-day meeting with business secretary Sajid Javid instead flying to Australia with his daughter and the PM also holidaying.

Despite calls to nationalise the steel works Cameron insisted on his return to work that nationalisation was “not the right answer”.

Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said “these are people who have given their lives to that industry. Are they to be thrown on the scrap heap of a multi-national corporation or is the British government going to intervene and maintain steel making in Britain?” adding “it’s a very simple choice”.

The Telegraph today accused the Government of sacrificing the steel industry to curry favour with the Chinese. Already under fire after his failed budget, Chancellor George Osbourne has been accused by unions of failing to understand the crisis. He said in his budget that “we’re going to permanently exempt our energy intensive industries like steel and chemicals from the cost of environmental tariffs so that we can keep their bills down, keep them competitive and keep them here” but unions are questioning whether the industry will survive long enough to benefit from the measures.

Tata have indicated that they might be open to a slightly longer timescale, which ITV correspondent Romilly Weeks said the Government are keen to take the credit for despite “incredibly” Tata saying “that they have had no contact, at this crucial juncture for the British steel industry, with any senior government minister today”.

The cost of losing the industry could cost hundreds of millions of pounds in environmental costs cleaning up the 3 mile site in Port Talbot along with the huge cost of the pension scheme relied upon by thousands of people.

I remember fondly going on holiday to Devon as a child and buying a souvenir pen knife with “Paignton” emblazoned on its case. I recall my pride even that age when I opened the blade to find Made in Sheffield etched into its shaft.

That industry along with that pride that those connected to it share and have given their lives to looks to be on the brink of extinction. While thousands of families face life on the dole, Tory politicians jet off on holiday and refuse to care about a world they simply do not know. They merrily give away an average of almost £3000 to some of the wealthiest in Britain (0.3% of the population) they dismiss hardworking families resigning many of them to the rest of their lives being unemployed.

With local elections just around the corner in May, let’s hope that those who stupidly voted Tory, will think again and vote for politicians that know what matters to the masses rather than the few.

If we leave, there is no going back!

With less than 100 days until the UK goes to the polls in the biggest political event for generations, and not a straight answer in sight from the right wing press I asked MEP Richard Corbett for the ins and outs of the referendum hoping to bust the myths being pedalled.
 

I started by asking Richard about the often made claim by the out campaign that our Parliament isn’t sovereign with some Euro-sceptics claiming that up to 75% of our laws are passed in Brussels.

 

The Yorkshire and Humber MEP says “the independent House of Commons library found that the real proportion is just 13.2% of laws; and these figures include laws that even mention the EU only in passing.

So what about the claim that the European Parliament is nothing more than a gentleman’s club, costing UK tax payers a fortune?

He refuted this claim, stating in fact that the confederation of British industry estimates that EU membership is worth £3000 per month to every family in Britain. A return of £10 for every £1 spent, and the budget is just 1% of GDP.

But will an out vote mean two years of uncertainty, leading to a possible stock market crash? I asked.

Richard told me that while it is impossible to predict whether a Brexit would cause a stock market crash, it will lead to uncertainty in the markets.

I asked Richard, Deputy leader of the European parliamentary Labour party, if was ludicrous of Boris Johnson to say we should vote out to get a better deal. The MEP says if we walk out on our neighbours it would be difficult to see where the good will would come from to get a better deal, indicating that Bo Jo’s out campaign was more linked to a future Tory leadership bid.

I asked Richard if he thought the desire from Tory MPs to leave the EU was based on a desire to abolish worker’s right’s? He accepted that the Tories are split over the issue but believes the right wing leavers in the party are very keen to diminish worker’s rights in the UK and see Brexit as a way to achieve this.

We often hear UKIP leader Nigel Farage refer to the European parliament as undemocratic, but Mr Corbett states on website that the European commission only makes suggestions which have to be passed (or rejected) by elected national Governments and directly elected MEP’s. In any case, he says, Commissioners themselves are accountable to the European Parliament, which elects a President, approves its appointment and can dismiss it by a vote of no confidence.

 

Is this, as many have claimed, a once in lifetime vote, I asked. Yes, Richard says “Which is why it’s so important to make the argument for staying in. if we leave, there is no going back.”

In the event of an out vote from the UK as a whole but Scotland voting to remain, I asked whether the Scot’s should have another independence referendum. “The SNP certainly wants to have another referendum and have recently gone back on their once in a lifetime promise before the referendum last year".

Many people claim they want to leave the EU because of immigration and believe Brexit to be the solution, Corbett points out that there is almost an equal number of Brits in other countries as Europeans in the UK, and those in Britain pay one third more in tax than they take out in benefits and services. He says “freedom of movement isn’t really a problem in terms of numbers or cost to the exchequer. Where there are problems, they are things that our Government could and should deal with, such as agencies only advertising jobs abroad and undercutting wages.”

Of those who come from outside the EU, Richard says “that’s under our own national rules, which we determine, but are far better able to enforce those rules while we remain in the EU because for one thing we maintain our borders in Calais, rather than Dover, which means we can process applicants before they arrive here. If they arrived here and then were found to be ineligible, we would have the often difficult task of deporting them, a problem we currently avoid with our partnership with France.” He also points out that we can use the Dublin regulation, which means we can send some asylum seekers back to the EU country in which they first arrived. A figure he puts at some 12,000 since 2003. He also highlighted the system of cooperation among police and intelligence forces meaning we get information on certain people when they arrive, such as fingerprints and criminal records. It also helps he says “cooperating to fight international gangs of people traffickers.”

For the concerned football fans I asked Richard would Brexit mean the end of Champions League football, meaning top players will snub the premier league. He referred me to West Ham’s vice chair, Karen Brady’s comments when she claimed that exit from the EU would make it harder for English clubs to attract international players while fans would be stung by higher costs when travelling to games on the continent. She said in a letter to football club chairmen that players from the EU can sign for clubs here without the need for a visa or special work permit, making it easier to sign top talent from across Europe to play in our leagues.   She said “losing this unhindered access to European talent would British sides at a disadvantage compared to continental teams.

 

Positive message from Sheffield despite Central Govt.

Sheffield City Council has just adopted a budget that may shed up to 400 jobs after another £50million was stripped from its budget taking the total amount to over £350 million in the last 6 years.

I asked Councillor Ben Curran, Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources about it. “We are now in year 6 of George Osbourne’s 4 year austerity plan”, Councillor Curran said, “There is absolutely a systematic approach to target poorer Norther communities, particularly those with Labour Councils.”

He emphasised the point by saying that there was no business case for moving BIS (department for business innovation and skills) to London, relocating 200 well paid, skilled jobs from the city. “It’s not just about cuts but others decisions too – like moving BIS jobs from Sheffield to London. We need to make people aware of it and build a campaign on it- jobs for Sheffield”.
 

The new round of cuts will undoubtedly mean that even with the best will in the world there will be cuts in services and the very most vulnerable people in the city will be at risk as a result.

I wanted to know if it was all bad news.

“Austerity hurts. We’ve reduced our spending by £350 million since 2010 in the wake of government cuts. But there is some good news. We’ve managed the finances well and are projecting a small surplus at year end.  This enabled us to make a really positive announcement on the Living Wage. It’s an important part of an inclusive economy something that we have a strong record on. We pay our staff the Living Wage and are using our contracts to boost the wages of hundreds of people across Sheffield. Our budget built on that good work. I was proud to announce a Living Wage rate relief that would help employers to pay the proper Living Wage. We know there are a number of employers in the city who want to do the right thing and need a little help. I was amazed that the Greens, Lib Dems and UKIP joined forces to block it. Luckily there are more Labour councillors it passed. It highlights the importance of a Labour administration in the city.”

With the all-out local elections just around the corner I asked Councillor Curran if he thought Labour would be punished for the cuts in the budget and retraction in services or if the people of Sheffield are wise enough to know who is to blame and re-elect a Labour controlled council. He was confident that most people believe Labour are doing their best and is quietly confident that Labour will hold a majority. It has been reported that some local councils will need to move services like bin collections to monthly services to save money but Councillor Curran told me Sheffield will not be doing that saying “we have no plans for bin collection to be made less frequently”.

I asked Mr Curran, councillor for Walkley, if Labour could be credible without a proper plan to tackle immigration. He disagreed with my suggestion stating that lessons were learned after the last election and Labour knows it has to talk about the issues that matter to people. Having chatted over a cup of Yorkshire tea and healthy sized slab of Chocolate cake from a local independent café for over an hour with Councillor Curran, I would urge the people of Sheffield to keep faith with him and the local Labour party. I was reassured by his answers that he will do all he can to ensure Sheffield gets the best deal it can despite the ideological cuts being relentlessly enforced on him and us. I believed him when he said a labour council will do its utmost to protect the vulnerable adults and children of the city.