You’d be hard pushed to find a more powerful symbol of Britain’s industrial decline than the collapse of British Steel, which went into compulsory liquidation last month after being wound up in the High Court. The company’s declining fortunes reflect a steel industry that is a shadow of its former self.

In 1970 the UK produced 28.3 million tonnes of steel. Last year it produced just 7.3 million tonnes – the lowest amount since 1933. An industry that employed some 320,000 people in 1971 now has just 32,000 workers.

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