Bail out British Steel? Why not Jamie Oliver’s restaurants too?

BRITAIN’S ONCE-MASSIVE steel industry has rusted away. In 1970 the country was the world’s fourth-largest producer, behind only America, Japan and West Germany. Since then it has tumbled down the global rankings. Production has fallen by two-thirds. And it is about to get even lower. On May 22nd British Steel, the country’s second-largest producer, collapsed, after rescue talks between the government and the company’s owner broke down. Some 5,000 jobs in Scunthorpe and Teesside are at risk.

Many thought the government should have done more to save the firm. The Labour Party argued that British Steel should be taken into public ownership. Even the right-wing Daily Mail appeared sympathetic to the idea of a bail-out. It was odd, then, that there were no calls to save another employer that had gone bust only the day before. The collapse of a chain of 25 mainly Italian restaurants run by Jamie Oliver, a celebrity chef, has imperilled 1,000 jobs around the country. No one has called for the government to step in to save the chain. If helping steelmakers is a good idea, why not restaurateurs too?