Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “horrified” that steelworks in Lanarkshire have been effectively mothballed, and is calling on John Swinney to step in to revive them.
The Prime Minister said the SNP-run Scottish Government had failed to find work to keep the sites thriving after negotiating a “bad deal” which saw them being bought by a new owner.
The plants at Dalzell and Clydebridge were bought by the Liberty House group in 2016, backed by a £7 million loan from the Scottish Government.
The group, which is part of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, also owns the Lochaber aluminium smelter.
The Labour leader’s comments come after the US trade deal which was reached on Thursday – which cut tariffs on cars, steel and aluminium.
Mr Swinney’s party said Sir Keir was attempting to “wash over” his own industrial failures.
Writing in the Sunday Times, the Prime Minister said: “I’m proud we’ve secured a deal that slashes tariffs on the steel and aluminium industries to zero.
“This Labour government will always support our proud steel industry. So I’m horrified that the Dalzell and Clydebridge steelworks in Lanarkshire are lying mothballed, with workers on furlough.
“All because the SNP negotiated a bad deal and have had no industrial strategy to bring work to those mills.
“We’re standing up for Scottish steel – now Swinney needs to step in and get those plants up and running again.”
It is understood that some staff at Dalzell in Motherwell have been furloughed and there is no work going through the plant.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the trade deal with India, which cuts costs on the crucial Scottish export of whisky.
SNP MP Pete Wishart laid the blame on the UK Government, saying it had failed to back the Scottish industry in contrast to the action taken to protect plants south of the border.
He said: “The audacity of Keir Starmer to attempt to wash over the UK government’s betrayal of Scottish industry is insulting.
“They put emergency support in for Scunthorpe steelworks and deliberately legislated to exclude Scotland and therefore, Dalzell works from any such help, now or in the future.
“Westminster did nothing to help the SNP save Dalzell. It did nothing to help us save Lochaber. And now it has done nothing to save Grangemouth.”
He added: “Like the Tories, Labour are making it abundantly clear that Scotland will always be an afterthought for Westminster. The SNP is the only party that will always be on Scotland’s side.”
