Reverend & The Makers join campaign to save UK steel

nme.com:

Reverend & The Makers have joined a campaign to save UK steel – describing it as being at the core of Sheffield’s heritage.The indie rock band, who formed in Sheffield, showed their support for the movement by pledging their support to Unite – a union which is campaigning for a just transition for the steel industry and a boost to jobs.Taking to social media, frontman Jon McClure called on his fans and the general public to join the campaign, and highlighted the ways in which the movement is particularly important for his Sheffield hometown.“I think we’ve got to do everything we can to safeguard the industry because it provides so many jobs and is also literally Sheffield’s heritage,” he said in a clip shared on X/Twitter. “It’s the thing Sheffield was founded upon and influences in so many ways the music that has come from the city.”In the footage, the singer is seen talking directly to the camera, encouraging support for the campaign.

A montage of shots of the city is also included, showing both the city’s famous engineering company Forgemasters and the historic live music venue The Leadmill.“I think the main issues are firstly procurement, I mean I can’t understand why we’re not using British steel for everything that we build in this country.

That seems logical to me.“[The] second issue is to tackle energy prices, which I think are obviously soaring out of control.

For me, things like public ownership is a solution to this and I can’t understand why we’ve not looked into that,” he added, later going on to reference some iconic musicians who have come out of the city.It would be a tragedy if Sheffield lost its steel industry.