Exclusive: Quit EU and save 10,000 steel jobs says Boris Johnson

BORIS JOHNSON warns today that Yorkshire's steel industry will only be saved if Britain votes to leave the European Union.
Boris Johnson says a Brexit vote will safeguard Yorkshire's steel industry.Boris Johnson says a Brexit vote will safeguard Yorkshire's steel industry.
Boris Johnson says a Brexit vote will safeguard Yorkshire's steel industry.

The Mayor of London’s dramatic intervention, placing him at further loggerheads with David Cameron, comes on the eve of a keynote policy speech in Leeds on Saturday in which the top Tory will set out the benefits of Brexit.

Writing exclusively in The Yorkshire Post, Mr Johnson blames EU obstinacy for the Government being “powerless” to take the necessary action to salvage the steel industry – and protect this country’s manufacturing base – after rising energy costs, and a glut of Chinese cut-price steel driving down global prices, prompted Tata to pull the plug on its UK operations.

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“We can see today how important it is for a country to control its own industrial policy,” he writes. “Yorkshire employs 10,000 people in its steel plants alone. But because of EU rules we are powerless to do what we need to do. State aid rules forbid us from supporting businesses in crisis and we have no power to set our own tariff levels to protect high-quality industries.”

Mr Johnson’s stance intensifies the pressure on those Ministers accused of not doing enough to help save the sector following the closure of Redcar’s steelworks last autumn.

Even though Sajid Javid, the under-fire Business Secretary, told MPs this week that the Government was “leading calls for EU action against unfair trading practices”, and that Brussels was not to blame for current constraints, Mr Johnson’s interjection further exposes the growing splits at the top of the Tory party ahead of the June 23 poll.

His remarks also contrast with his previous campaign visits to Yorkshire during the 2010 and 2015 general elections when the Mayor, one of the most colourful characters in British politics, professed total loyalty to Mr Cameron.

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However his wide-ranging article – Mr Johnson says voters were “conned” into voting in favour of the EEC in 1975 – will be interpreted as a prospectus for power if the Brexit campaign prevails, a scenario which could force the Prime Minister to resign.

It also signals a dramatic escalation in the referendum battle after the Vote Leave campaign, backed by Mr Johnson, was given official status.

Mr Johnson’s remarks come hours after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, once a leading critic of the EU, came under fire from his activists for endorsing the status quo.

“The EU does not stand still. It keeps moving forward, but in only one direction – towards a European super-state that would turn its nations into museum pieces,” warns Mr Johnson.

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He said that Yorkshire and the Humber’s £1.1bn contribution to Brussels was the equivalent of one quarter of the amount spent on education locally each year and that Brexit would enable the UK to protect existing farm subsidies while also having “billions of pounds a year left over to spend on our own priorities”.