LABOUR has called on David Cameron for “concrete action” to save Britain’s embattled steel industry as the trade unions upped their campaign to save thousands of jobs with a new rescue plan which needs Government support.

An emergency meeting of union representatives from Tata Steel plants across the UK was told of frantic efforts to stop the industry collapsing. The plan will be presented to the Conservative Government tomorrow when the Prime Minister holds a steel summit in Downing Street with Carwyn Jones, the First Minister of Wales.

Read more: Cameron says nationalisation isn't the answer to steel crisis

The unions set out their demands of the UK Government, including helping to secure the customer base and guaranteeing production of Tata's UK steel operations so that customers are not lost following the company's shock announcement to sell its UK assets.

After the Welsh Assembly cut short their Easter recess to hold an emergency debate on the crisis, Angela Eagle, the Shadow Business Secretary, said: “The future of British steel-making is hanging in the balance.

“Labour has been demanding action for months to address the growing crisis in this vital strategic industry. The Welsh Assembly has been recalled and the steel unions are working hard to find a way forward.

“Yet the crisis continues to grow and the Tory Government is still missing in action. They have refused to recall Parliament and their response has been utterly chaotic. They need to get a grip fast; we’ve had enough of warm words, now is the time for concrete action,” added Ms Eagle.

Read more: Unions urge Government to support plan to save steel jobs

Calling on Mr Cameron to take personal charge of the efforts to save the steel industry, the unions insisted work had to be done to “maintain the integrity” of the business.

Union officials said Tata's plants were viable but they needed investment; the company’s planned investment is understood to be have been £1.5 billion over 10 years.

"This level of investment should be achievable given that any buyer would be gaining control of assets worth £4bn," declared the unions in a statement. "But Government support is needed to bridge the two to three years it will take to get back to self-sustainability," they stressed.

Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of Community, said: "It was clear from our meeting today that steelworkers are the guardians of their industry and they know what action is needed to secure the future of steelmaking in the UK.

"There needs to be a step-change in the level of Government involvement with Tata, its customers and the unions and this is why we have set out our demands.

"The Government needs to reassure the customer base, they need to make it clear to Tata that the integrity of the business must be maintained, and the Government must invest in our steel industry to give it a future."

Harish Patel, national officer of Unite, said: "Steelworkers are united in their view of what the Government must do. This business should have a future but it needs immediate action to reassure customers and protect the integrity of the business. We don't want to hear more warm words from ministers. We want Government to work with us to deliver this plan, invest in the future of steelmaking and protect the jobs of thousands of steelworkers across the UK."

Dave Hulse, national officer of the GMB, said: "There is no time for further delay from this Government. They need to be loud and clear to instil confidence in customers and steelworkers that this business will have a future.

"Government must hold Tata to being a responsible seller. You can't rush selling off the UK steel industry. Everybody needs to work together in the best interests of our industrial security and steel communities across the UK."

No 10 insisted the Government was doing everything it could to help the industry and ensure “a genuine sales process” got underway.

In Cardiff as the Welsh Assembly returned from its Easter recess to debate the steel crisis, Mr Jones called on the UK Government to nationalise Tata's steel plants if a buyer could not be found.

"We are driven not just by sentiment; we are not arguing to prop up a dying industry. Wales needs steel. Britain needs steel,” declared the FM.

During his address, Mr Jones accused the UK Government of not driving a hard enough bargain at EU level to protect British products from market-distorting steel dumping.

The Labour politician revealed he had spoken to one potential buyer yesterday and how the Welsh administration dealt with such expressions of interest was the “substance of our joint work with the UK Government".

Tata, which currently employs nearly 7000 workers at its steel plants in south Wales, mostly at Port Talbot, declined to comment on reports of potential buyers, who include: Sanjeev Gupta of Liberty House, which has bought two Tata plants in Scotland and one in Wales.

The tycoon said: “I’m certainly not advocate something that involves mass redundancies, so we will look to see how we can reposition the workforce from blast furnaces. It will require a lot of planning…and also it will not be overnight.”

Other potential buyers include Greybull, which is in the process of buying the Scunthorpe steelworks from Tata, billionaire Wall Street investor Wilbur Ross, who is on the board of ArcelorMittal, Europe's biggest steel maker, and German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who is due to meet union representatives today, has declined to say who might be in the frame to buy some or all of Tata’s steelworks. He hinted the Government could be willing to cut the cost of energy for steelworks and cover workers' pensions to smooth the path to a sale.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The next few days will be crucial for UK steel. Ministers need to show British steelworkers that they are on their side. Other EU governments have acted to support their steel industries, ours must do the same.”

Meantime, Business Minister Anna Soubry will next Tuesday appear before the Commons Welsh Affairs Committee to answer questions about the future of steel production in Port Talbot.

Speaking outside the Business Department before a meeting with Tata representatives, she said that, while talks were ongoing regarding the planned sale of the company’s Scunthorpe plant, the future of the Port Talbot steelworks was a "different kettle of fish".

"In that sense, that is where we are losing a lot of money; well Tata is. There's a big job to be done there." The Port Talbot works is said to be losing £1 million a day.

Ms Soubry again defended Government policy towards helping the industry, adding: "We've been implementing a compensation scheme and we'll be exempting steel from two of the green tariffs from December 2017. So we're doing all of these things, along with the tariffs as well."