THE Tories’ callous disregard for British industry has caused manufacturing output to slump 1.8 per cent in the last year.

The Office for National Statistics said yesterday that the February 2015 to February 2016 decrease was the worse since July 2013.

The manufacture of transport equipment was the worst hit, decreasing 2.9 per cent, while steel production hit its lowest point since December 2008.

Factory workers slammed the government’s “failure to pursue an active industrial strategy,” saying it was “dashing the hopes of rebalancing the economy.”

Unite the Union assistant general secretary Tony Burke said: “With steel in the grip of an industrial crisis these figures show that the George Osborne’s ‘hands free’ approach to manufacturing is dashing hopes of rebalancing the economy.

“The absence of a coherent industrial strategy is exposing the UK’s manufacturing sector to the whims of global headwinds and risks hollowing out skills and jobs in a key sector of our nation’s economy.

“With steel communities across the UK facing uncertainty and tens of thousands of jobs in the supply chain hanging by a thread, we urge the government to adopt an active industrial strategy with steel at its heart.

“Now is the time for the government to follow the example of countries like Germany who cherish and support their manufacturing base.

“A failure to do so will lead to an ever increasing reliance on the service sector for growth and an economy built on low-paid, low-skilled insecure work.”