Within minutes Mr Byers announced the recovery package in the House of Commons and promised to stand by the sacked workers.The minister also outlined a £48maid package to help to regenerate parts of England hit by closures in the steel industry. A similar package of aid worth more than £50m was announced in Cardiff by Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of the Welsh Assembly. The money will be directed at retraining, job seeking and regeneration projects in the areas worst hit by the closures.The government announcement will affect workers at Llanwern, Bryngwyn and Ebbw Vale in south Wales, Shotton in north Wales, and Teesside, where partial or total closures were announced in February. Workers at Port Talbot in south Wales, Scunthorpe, Rotherham, Corby and Workington plants will also be affected.Mr Byers told MPs: "We hoped that Corus were genuine when they said they wanted to discuss with the unions proposals for restructuring to find an alternative way forward."I think when the management of Corus reflect on their actions, they will realise that the trade unions were right and that Corus was wrong."Those 6,000 people today who have been made redundant by Corus are some of the most productive steel workers in the world. These are decent hard-working people," he said.Mr Morgan added in a statement to the Welsh Assembly: "We have worked tirelessly to convince the company that it should scrap the job cuts, or if not scrap them, then at the very least defer, suspend or reduce them.

These arguments have fallen on deaf ears."David Heathcoat-Amory, the shadow Trade and Industry Secretary, blamed the Government for the crisis. "You blame everybody else but yourself but it is the Government which has been in charge of economic policy."Michael Leahy, the general secretary of the ISTC, the steel trade union, welcomed the rescue package, but condemned Corus for treating its staff with "contempt. This package should never have been needed," he said.Corus said it had thoroughly evaluated the union proposals to avert job losses, but could not find a viable alternative to the redundancies.A spokesman said: "We welcome measures to regenerate the areas affected by steel closures in Wales and the North of England. Corus will work with all relevant agencies to facilitate the regeneration and redevelopment of its sites.". Poverty could be eliminated across the globe within 50 years, Clare Short, the Secretary of State for International Development, told MPs. Poverty could be eliminated across the globe within 50 years, Clare Short, the Secretary of State for International Development, told MPs. "Abject poverty need not always be with us.

It can be gone from the world ­ that's an achievable objective," she said yesterday.Speaking at the start of the Commons debate on the Government's International Development White Paper, she said: "A world of equal development where people can be educated and have the chance of a decent life ... is achievable in a 50-year time span."In the aftermath of the May Day demonstrations against global capitalism, Ms Short said globalisation created an "unprecedented opportunity to lift millions of the world's poorest people out of poverty".She said this was the biggest moral issueof the 21st century and that the Government was "really working to educate public opinion in this country" on the issue.Gary Streeter, Conservative spokesman on international development, said of the May Day protesters: "Rather than breaking windows in McDonald's, wouldn't it be a better idea to set up businesses that employ people in the developing world?". Benefits fraud and mistakes by the Department of Social Security cost the National Insurance Fund £400m last year, according to a report by the National Audit Office published yesterday. Benefits fraud and mistakes by the Department of Social Security cost the National Insurance Fund £400m last year, according to a report by the National Audit Office published yesterday. The losses represent fraud and mistakes in incapacity benefits, state pensions and some jobseekers allowance payments. The NAO warned of errors by officials in making benefit awards, fraudulent benefit claims and fraud in cashing giro cheques and order books.Sir John Bourne, head of the office, said the level of fraud was "substantial". The watchdog qualified its audit of the fund for the 13th year running, but said progress was being made by the Inland Revenue towards updating its systems.Fraud and errors across the benefits system total an estimated £4bn a year. Giro cheque fraud amounted to £59m while errors in pensions payments cost the taxpayer £32m.