The staggering collapse of the British steel industry, like coal, formerly one of the pillars of all that made this country wealthy and prosperous, has been painful to behold. Like anybody else, I feel desperately sorry for those people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

The fact that for the last few years our steel industry has been run by a foreign company, Tata of India, was initially hard to digest but welcome nonetheless if it kept the industry active and people in work. Sadly, it hasn’t worked out and, following the loss of thousands of jobs at the turn of the year, it was announced last week that thousands more will follow on the back of losses of £1 million per day.

The main reason is said to be the flooding of the market by cheap Chinese steel with which the West cannot possibly compete. There are those who say that our Government must intervene and save the jobs, a familiar refrain but one that has to stack up economically. In spite of the wishes of the Far Left it cannot just be left to the government to keep its citizens in full time employment. The lessons of the former Soviet Union clearly demonstrate that.

However, there is something that any government can do and that is to tax foreign imports so harshly that the home market can flourish once more, even if it means a more expensive product for the consumer. In the USA the steel industry faces a similar problem and the government there has responded with taxes in excess of 250% on foreign steel to try to protect the American industry and its workers.

Our government should do the same thing although the problem we have is that we are bound by the rules of the European Union. It is up to them to deal with the problem, meaning that British jobs are at the mercy of the unelected mandarins of Brussels. Another factor to be considered when voting in the June referendum.