Sioned Williams MS writes about Tata Steel, the new UK Labour Government and whether anything will change for the workers
This article was published in the South Wales Evening Post on Thursday 18 July 2024.
What does “change” mean for the steelworkers of Port Talbot
We were frequently told by Welsh Labour politicians, including the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy that a change in Westminster of Government would change “completely the context for steel production in the UK.” Regardless of your political persuasion, this would have come as good news for the steelworkers of Port Talbot, their families, and the communities and businesses that rely so heavily on Tata Steel.
Right up until the General Election, the Labour Welsh Government insisted that “a better deal, both for steel and for the workforce, is available and should have been the kind of deal negotiated between the UK Government and Tata.” And the First Minister said of the previous UK Government plans that “the outcome we are facing and the loss it represents was preventable, and is still preventable.”
Constituents who face losing their jobs, and who are, quite frankly, losing hope, have contacted me after every such statement we've heard to ask about the specifics of what exactly is going to be done to change the outcome which will see thousands of jobs lost.
Such a core industry and its future goes beyond party politics in my opinion. Indeed, the Senedd has been united behind the belief that we must keep the ability to make primary steel in the UK.
However, Plaid Cymru's role in the Senedd is to hold government to account on such promises. Therefore, at the first opportunity following Labour’s landslide Westminster victory, I asked Welsh Government about Labour’s plans for the steel works. Keir Starmer, after all, had promised he was going to invest more on steel and my point was “how can you cost a plan without there being a plan?”
Welsh Government was very quick to point out that the Labour government in Westminster is new. But I really don’t believe it’s a good enough excuse, because the Labour Government in Wales isn't new and this crisis has been developing for years. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask what planning work they did with those new pledges of investment in mind.
“Change” was the slogan for Labour's election campaign, but this needs to have a practical, not just a rhetorical meaning. The steelworkers and contractors of Port Talbot, their families and the wider community urgently deserve to know what change is the new UK Labour Government working with the Welsh Labour Government offering them?
Plaid Cymru have put forward ideas that could save jobs, and save our ability to make primary steel. We also believe that there needs to be a change to stop the fate of Welsh communities being subject to the whims of a multinational company.