The bile is partly tactics - by inflating their outrage Ministers emphasise Corus is at fault. No, say most analysts. Thursday's cutbacks were the end of a rocky road for Corus's UK operations that started in 1996, when it was still known as British Steel. Analysts were quick to point out that Corus's balance sheet was not the real difficulty. Problem one was the reversal in the economic conditions that underpinned the 1996 performance.
Steel is a cyclical industrial commodity.
Since then they have juddered mainly down, thanks to world overcapacity. In November last year, as Corus executives realised a radical restructuring was required, they stood at the equivalent of DM550. The problem is worse for Corus, which was formed by the merger of British Steel and Dutch Hoogovens. Alongside this has been the strength of the pound against European currencies, which hammers Corus's overseas competitiveness. In mid 1996, the pound stood at around DM2.20.