15 December 2009

The Right Hon Gordon Brown MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
LONDON
SW1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister

I write to you as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Middlesbrough to express my deep concern at the decision of the owners of CORUS to mothball the blast furnace at Redcar and make around 1700 workers redundant. Steel making has a very long tradition on Teesside – in fact it was to provide pastoral support for the workers and their families of the original Iron Works that brought the Catholic Church to Middlesbrough in the mid 1850’s, and this close relationship continues to this day.

Our steel making is known and respected across the world, and I am sure you are aware that the Sydney Harbour Bridge was designed on Teesside and built with Teesside steel. All that now seems to be at an end.

My concerns are, also, about the families and the already depressed neighbourhoods which the loss of jobs will only make worse.

I recognise that the Government is prepared to provide £60million in support funding but, in reality, this is a small sum as the majority of it is to be used to support a capital intensive project at Wilton. The skills of the CORUS workforce are different from those required at Wilton, and they will be forced to seek work – if possible – in off shore plants or in the Middle East with consequent deleterious effects on their families as we know from past closures.

As I am sure you know from discussions with your ministerial colleagues and local MPs, Teesside is suffering from the recession already with many houses on estates ‘boarded up’ and the local economy in difficulty. The community needs help and needs it soon. The Christian message of Christmas is one of hope, and we need this urgently on Teesside.

I have copied this letter to our local MPs and local newspaper.

I wish you and all your family a most happy Christmas.

Yours sincerely

Rt Rev Terence Patrick Drainey
Bishop of Middlesbrough

cc: Rt Hon Vera Baird MP
Sir Stuart Bell MP
Rt Hon William Hague MP
Mr Ashok Kumar MP

Bishop Terry’s letter is available to download here