Welsh Labour — Standing up for Steel — Christina Rees MP
This year’s Welsh Labour conference has seen the launch of our ‘Standing up for Steel’ report — which will guide the party’s campaigning in the coming months, as we fight for the future of the steel industry in Wales and across the UK.
The report is the result of twelve month’s hard work by Welsh Labour’s Steel Working Party.
The working party was chaired by Mike Payne, and involved Community, Unite Wales, Ken Skates AM, Stephen Kinnock MP, Jess Morden MP, Derek Vaughan MEP, David Rees AM, Andy Dundobbin and Ceri Reeves.
At every stage of their discussions, this group had at the forefront of their minds the critically important and indispensable nature of the Welsh steel industry. With 3,500 steel jobs in Port Talbot, 1,250 in Newport & Llanwern, 800 in Celsa, Cardiff, 700 at Shotton and 600 at Trostre; steel remains a major employer in Wales, with whole communities relying on the health of the industry. In total, including its supply chain, some 20,000 Welsh jobs depend on steel, and Tata’s operations alone are worth £3.2bn a year to the Welsh economy.
The report sets out clearly the threats that the industry faces, and the urgent need for government at all levels to engage with management and unions to understand and counter those threats, while investing in the future.
High energy costs, uncertainty around the botching of the Brexit negotiations by the UK government, cheap Chinese imports and Trump’s steel tariffs (only temporarily suspended) all throw their shadow over the future of Welsh Steel.
Only action by government can counter these threats and secure the future. The Welsh Labour government has stepped up to take on its responsibilities with a lot more than talk. £17m has been invested by the Welsh government in skills development, energy efficiency and R&D. £8m has been invested in a power plant at Port Talbot and £1.6m into major environmental improvements at Celsa. Procurement guidance in Wales has been changed to encourage the use of Welsh steel in infrastructure contracts and construction.
What’s missing here is action from the UK government.
We need that action at the UK level and we need it now. As the report makes clear in its recommendations, the Welsh steel industry needs a level playing field to compete and thrive post-Brexit. It needs sustainable energy costs, the negotiation of a permanent exemption from U.S. tariffs and delivery on a UK sector deal that guarantees investment and the expansion of steel production, a commitment on skills and R&D and a drive on innovation and procurement.
Steel is a global industry with global opportunities and global competition. It must be seen as a foundation stone of any vision of a healthy and robust British economy.
Wales has shown the way. It remains to be seen whether the UK government has anything like the vision and the commitment for steel that Welsh Labour has shown.
Christina Rees MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and Member of Parliament for Neath