PORT TALBOT, Wales/LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain battled to save its steel industry yesterday after India’s Tata Steel put its British operations up for sale, leaving thousands of jobs at risk as a result of cheap Chinese imports.
The move comes less than three months before Britons vote on the country’s membership of the European Union in a referendum dominated by concerns about the economy.
The government said it was working to broker a deal with potential buyers after Tata Steel sought to end its almost decade-long venture in Britain, which employs 15,000 people but has been hit by high costs and Chinese competition.
“This is my fourth time that I’ve been placed under the threat of redundancy,” 51-year-old steelworker and union representative Mark Turner said outside Tata’s plant in Port Talbot in Wales, Britain’s biggest steel works.
“If this shuts, there is nowhere else to go.”
The move could have an impact on Britain’s closely fought June 23 vote over whether to stay in the EU.
