UNITE the union urged Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to urgently protect Britain’s “sovereign steel-making capability” today.

General secretary Sharon Graham’s letter to Downing Street came after last week’s spring Budget, which failed to include a comprehensive support package for a sector under pressure from foreign competitors.

The government’s failure to “grow steel and make it more internationally competitive is threatening the livelihoods of thousands of workers across Wales, Humberside, Yorkshire and north-east England,” Ms Graham said.