THE fighting spirit, which spurred a successful battle to save steelmaking on Teesside, must be galvanised again to protect 1,500 North-East jobs, an MP has warned.

The future of the region's steel heritage will be today discussed in the House of Commons (Wednesday, May 15), after Tata Steel announced it was writing down the value of its European business by more than £1bn.

The Indian-based firm, which employs workers at sites in Darlington, Hartlepool, Redcar, Middlesbrough and Skinningrove, in east Cleveland, blamed weaker European demand and the economic downturn for the decision.

Tata bosses, who bought Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus for £6.2bn in 2007, say they will not comment further on the move until it reveals its full-year results later this month.

Tom Blenkinsop, chairman of the all party parliamentary group on steel, helped campaign to find a buyer for the Redcar blast furnace, where SSI last year resumed production at the former Tata cast products plant, and he will this afternoon speak to John Bolton, Tata's director of Long Steel operations, to discuss it's North-East future.

Last night, steelmaker union, Community, told The Northern Echo it wanted to meet Dr Karl-Ulrich Kohler, chairman of Tata's European operations, to find out its plans, after an industry analyst report claimed the business was on a knife-edge and suffering from a drop in steel prices after a brief rally at the start of the year.

Mr Blenkinsop's meeting comes amid mounting speculation that Tata is considering cutting its Corus division to ease £7bn debts, and wants to sell its Teesside research and development centre, where it employs 200 people and works on spot-welded high-strength steel resistance projects.

The firm, which is taking on 22 apprentices at Teesside, Skinningrove and Hartlepool in September, has declined to comment on the reports.

Mr Blenkinsop, MP for Middlesbrough South and east Cleveland and former officer with steel union, Community, said it was vitally important support Tata's North-East presence, and build its position as the world's 12th largest steelmaker.

He said: “It is a concern and we want to help as much as we can for the people that are employed by Tata.

“It is very reminiscent of the previous battles that we have fought and overcome, and it is important not to scare the pigeons until we know more about the situation.

“The steel industry is still a predominantly important employer in this area, and a lot of people rely on it, so we will be doing as much as we can to support what we already have.

“We want to see if there is any further information and will ask the questions and take it from there.”

Earlier this month, it was revealed Tata, which has invested about £13m in its North-East sites, could start a £50m programme to reline a blast furnace at its Scunthorpe works, and Paul Talbot, from the Community union, said it wanted definitive answers from bosses on its plans.

He said: “Time and time again we have had assurances from Tata that they have no plans to cut back investment or make redundancies and close UK plants, but this is a concern for its workforce and their families.

“We want to arrange a meeting with Dr Kohler to get everyone around the table and see what the company has to say.”

A Tata statement said: “The company expects non-cash writedown of around $1.6bn (£1.04bn) and the impairment is primarily due to a weaker macro-economic and market environment in Europe where apparent steel demand has fallen significantly by almost eight per cent, which in aggregate results in almost 30 per cent since the emergence of the global financial crisis in 2007.

“The underlying condition is expected to continue over the near and medium-term, and has led to the downward revision of cash flow expectations underlying the valuation of the European business.”