So should we as taxpayers help support a loss making industry, or let it go to the wall?

Tough. I can't see how it can be economical to make steel for general industry in the UK, whether or not steel from China is subsidised. In which case, if - as they state - steel is strategically critical, then I can't see how the government can justify NOT supporting it. Special steels are a different crucible of fish.

There's been a lot of talk about the high prices Tata has to pay for gas/electricity due to the environmental taxes, but I've still yet to hear why our (UK) energy prices are higher than those of France and Germany. I thought green taxes were pretty much uniform across the EU....

The government has no interest in industry, only banking. If it was a bank it wouldn't even have been a question.
There's alot the government could do with quotas, levies,taxes (positive and negative) to help out but they won't. Loss making = no tax revenue and 1400 more jobless won't hit their coffers.
We have a reasonable car manufacturing industry, you'd think metal would be quite useful...

I can’t honestly think why we would nationalise the industry again. We clearly don’t see the industry as vital to the nation, if we do why the heck did we sell it off and allow it to be broken up and stripped of anything that was valuable?

We sold off most of our nationalised industries, much of which had been nationalised to rescue or protect them as they were then seen as being nationally vital. Once they were back on the open market they were ripe for takeover and were bought by pretty much of the rest of the world. These industries were snapped up because they held valuable patents, processes, brands and UK land assets. Once these elements were stripped off what was left was then expected to compete on the global market.

We Brits led the pack on the big sell off but our EU partners bought into the programme too as it made a lot of people in the city a great deal of money. The globalisation model we enthusiastically followed would not allow any kind of protectionism practices. For example, If we are going to build X we must use Y. So these new businesses had to now be commercially viable, not just within their own country or close economic group, but with the rest of the world.

Sadly because we EU citizens are a bit expensive with our Holidays and days off we were always on the road to doom.

Never mind though. I am sure that when we Brexit we can remove all existing EU rules on Pay, holidays and employment protection. We will then be much better placed to take on the rest of the world with its state funded industry & cheap labour.

Blimey bob, that's an early rise!
Cant agree more. Steel is screwed, long live idiots in charge of the economy - especially ones who's qualifications are history degrees!

Actually the exact opposite. I had been up since 7am and was really looking forward to getting home and to bed

The greedy bastards are just lining their own pockets and bleeding the country dry, sending our once great country into the sewer. Fat cats and greed! We need another Guy Fawkes to rid us of the corruption!

Germany has integrated its steel manufacturing into their car making which gives it loads of cash breaks and also gives its citizens a job. Why oh why Britain can't do the same shenanigans as the Germans do is beyond belief to me.....as soon as we get out the EU the better take it from me!

So if the Germans are doing it within the EU why do we need to leave to do the same?

Probably because they are breaking the rules, and we won't. Much like the way the French dealt with their BSE issue.

The French invoke a national security clause to protect national assets like that and even to block the sale of important French companies to foreign buyers. Of course we won't stand for any of that nasty nationalism stuff in the UK.

Shades of Ravenscraig here, 1992 when it was finally put to rest. A lot of people depended on the steel industry & not directly linked, thousands of jobs went in various ways. Some lost their homes, marriages split up. Some took to drink, a sorry picture indeed.

I fear the likes of Port Talbot will go the same way. To answer the initial question, as others have said, the British government wont be bailing the industry out, it did not work in the past. Sad days.

Yes, it really is just the latest example of a decline of decades standing. From the early 70's over 90% of UK steel making jobs have already been lost.

I read that they're paying 2-3x the energy cost and 5-10x the business rates cost of EU competitors, never mind the Chinese who are dumping steel at below cost prices.

More fodder for the inevitable march towards globalisation.