MARGARET Thatcher – warned of the shedding of thousands of jobs in Scotland’s steel industry and the condemnation that would ensue for the Conservative Government – penned a brief note and underlined it: “No action is called for.”

During the 1980s and the age of privatisation, British Steel made a “remarkable turnaround” from a loss of more than £1.7 billion in 1979 to a profit of £733 million by 1990. Yet the onset of excess capacity and low prices were beginning to ring alarm bells. The forecast for 1992 was for a loss of up to £100m; the prospect of massive job losses loomed.

The Herald:

In late 1989 a concerned Malcolm Rifkind, the Scottish Secretary, wrote to the Prime Minister, highlighting the growing public and media alarm about the industry’s future north of the Border, which, he stressed, was “in considerable doubt”.

In newly-released papers, he explained how he had met Sir Robert Scholey, the boss of British Steel, and suggested it “now seems probable decisions which would mean the loss of at least 1,000 jobs at the Clydesdale Tube Works in Lanarkshire will be taken in the next few months”. He also pointed to the closure of the Dalzell plate works at Motherwell by 1995 at the latest, with the loss of a further 670 jobs.

As for Ravenscraig, Sir Robert told Mr Rifkind the company had no plans for major investment and, given the downturn, production was to be diverted to other plants, where there was spare capacity.

The Scottish Secretary told Mrs Thatcher how the plan to close the plant over Christmas and the cancellation of some £10m of investment previously planned had “exacerbated public concern and reinforced the belief the company is moving towards the closure of Ravenscraig with the loss of all 2,700 jobs”. He spoke of British Steel’s “rationalisation of plant configuration,” which would likely mean a “steady run-down of the Scottish steel industry between late 1989 and the end of 1994.

The Herald:

“My purpose in writing,” Mr Rifkind told the PM, “is to alert you to this development and the political criticism which we are likely to attract … and to register my concern about the likelihood of very major job losses taking place over a short period and concentrated in a small area where the alternative prospects for employment are limited.”

He spoke of the need for an allocation of additional resources for remedial measures in the Motherwell area.

But scribbled in the margin with words underlined, Mrs Thatcher wrote: “No action is called for. Mr Rifkind is simply putting down another marker for his concerns for the future of steel in Scotland.”

The Herald:

A month later, Norman Lamont, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responded to Mr Rifkind, saying he appreciated his fellow Scot’s concerns but, in an era of privatisation, it was important to acknowledge any job losses were the “result of commercial decisions by a private sector company responding to world market conditions”. Noting how it was not yet clear “special remedial measures” would be necessary, Mr Lamont said if any Scottish measures were justified “on value-for-money grounds,” any new money would come from “within existing overall Scottish Office provision by reordering your priorities if necessary”.

The Herald:

In May 1990, a note said at 10am on the 16th, British Steel would announce the closure of Ravencraig’s hot strip mill in 1991 with the loss of 770 jobs; leaving 2,600 people working at the plant’s slab mill. The same day, Mrs Thatcher’s Private Secretary Barry Potter, penned her a note, saying: “There will be very considerable dismay in Scotland at the closure. This will be widely seen as spelling the end for Ravenscraig.”

By November, it was the turn of Clydesdale Tube Works to hear grim news as British Steel announced its closure. Some 1,200 jobs were to go.

A note to the PM said: “Although that is more than are at risk in the medium term at Ravenscraig, Clydebank is not the political touchstone that Ravenscraig represents. Mr Rifkind tomorrow will confine himself to expressing regret at the loss of 1,200 jobs and saying the various agencies will do their best to create new jobs in the area.”

The Herald:

Another note explained the consequential job losses for the closure of Ravenscraig and Clydesdale were 3,000 in Lanarkshire, raising the male unemployment rate to more than 13 per cent. It pointed out a total end to steel-making in Scotland would result in 15,000 job losses.

By April 1991 when Ian Lang had succeeded Mr Rifkind as Scottish Secretary, a row broke out at Westminster over the Commons Trade and Industry Committee wanting a debate on the steel industry. In a note to Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Lilley, Mr Lang told of concerns such a debate would “lead to fresh calls for Government intervention to ‘save’ the Scottish steel industry”. He noted how, following a report on the industry, there was a “general acceptance that, however unwelcome the demise of the Scottish steel industry may be, the industry faces an extremely bleak future and the emphasis should be on diversifying and rebuilding the Lanarkshire economy”.

He added: “A further debate would be an opportunity for the Opposition to reopen the issue and for political point-scoring.”

The Herald:

Within months British Steel had said it was closing Ravenscraig with the loss of 1,200 jobs.

A few days after it shut in June 1992, Mr Lang, in a note, observed the Government’s “worst expectations have been fulfilled”.