I WRITE in reply to the letter by Michael Clark about the smelting of iron from our scrapped ships.

We used to do the smelting but the 1980s government shut what was then a new smelting plant in Cleveland; it was only 18 months old and cost £60m.

The workers tried to keep it open but, after six months of trying to keep the fires going, the place was closed.

This was the most modern plant in Europe. Then all our steel that needed smelting went to Germany. We then bought it back from there.

I believe this was all part of the system to break the unions, whatever it cost.

RH BEAUCHAMP, Hugh Allen Crescent, New Marston, Oxford