PUBLIC CONTRACTS: The government awarded a ship-building contract to a firm in Spain rather than Tyneside shipbuilders who bid for the work, the Northern TUC conference was told on Saturday.

The conference supported a motion calling on this government — and the next Labour government — to award public contracts to British manufacturers, especially in the at-risk steel industry.

Unite delegate Angela Duerden said: “Decades of underinvestment have undermined our steel industry — but it could have a bright future.”