‘I have spent my life in this corner of Lincolnshire and witnessed how such job losses affect every part of a community’

The Tory MP for Brigg and Immingham, which includes part of the Scunthorpe steelworks, fully backs its nationalisationMention steel and one of the towns you immediately think of is Scunthorpe. The steelworks site defines the area. It is huge, the equivalent of 1,133 Wembley football pitches. It extends well beyond the bounds of Scunthorpe itself, into my constituency, and employs hundreds of my constituents and many more beyond. The raw materials that feed the blast furnaces come in through the port of Immingham, which I represent at Westminster.I have spent all my life living in this corner of Lincolnshire and am old enough to have witnessed the decline of Grimsby following the loss of its deep-sea fishing industry. Such losses affect every part of a community. When such industries decline and disappear people feel cut off from their heritage, their culture and so much more. The health of the local community deteriorates, chronic illnesses increase, there is lower life expectancy, reduced productivity, increased healthcare costs and lower community cohesion. Continue reading...