In a stirring speech before the Commons Select Commitee, Tory MP Sir Toby Toff claimed that as many as 2,000 poles a day were entering the UK. The poles, primarily used in the telecommunications industry, but also for scaffolding and other building work, are made in a factory outside Gdansk and imported by Smethwick Steel of Hartlepool.
Poles apart
There, MD Michael O'Connor said that he didn't know what all the fuss was about. He said that the poles were made locally until about 6 years ago, when cheaper Eastern European steel made importation cheaper. Sir Toby was accused of scaremongering by Labour Ministers.
