Anger as Welsh MP told to show ‘a little bit of gratitude’ for UK Government steel strategy
Emily Price
A UK Government minister has told a Welsh MP to show “a little bit of gratitude” for new measures introduced to revive Britain’s steel industry.
On Thursday (March 19), Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle unveiled the government’s new landmark steel strategy to preserve steel production in the UK.
Ministers said the move, boosting production from 30%, would be coupled with reductions in steel import quotas as part of new trade measures to preserve steel production for critical national infrastructure and defence.
From July, overall quota levels for steel imports will be reduced by 60% compared to current arrangements, and steel coming into the UK above these levels will be subject to a 50% tariff.
The UK Government says steel producers and thousands of steelworkers will benefit from the new strategy.
During the policy announcement in the House of Commons, MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, David Chadwick, queried how much would be spent on the strategy in Wales.
The Liberal Democrat also raised concerns about the pace of construction of a £1.25bn electric arc furnace at TATA Steel in Port Talbot.
The India-based firm cut over 2000 jobs at the south Wales plant when the blast furnaces were shut down there in 2024.
The UK Government was later accused of “double standards” when ministers stepped in with emergency legislation to protect steel production at a plant threatened with closure in Scunthorpe.
Speaking in the Commons, Chadwick said: “I am not really sure that Labour understands the damage that its party’s failures are having across south Wales.
“Wales feels abandoned. Steel is in our blood. It is the backbone of our economy. But we are still losing jobs.
“South Wales was promised that the electric arc furnace would be up and running by 2027, but we are now told that it will be 2028. Can the Secretary of State update the House on that deadline?”
He added: “Wales is desperate for the good jobs that the steel industry can provide. There is still – just about, if the Government move quickly – the opportunity to build a home-grown supply chain for the floating offshore wind sector.
“The Government has told me that they are not expecting to have that sector going until the mid-2030s. That is far too slow.
“That lackadaisical approach means that the energy that should be created through offshore wind will not be added to the grid until the mid-2030s.
“The Government must hurry up and deliver on their promises to south Wales.”
Responding, the business and trade secretary said Chadwick should show “a little bit of gratitude”.
He argued that the UK’s steel sector has been waiting 80 years for a steel strategy, and that this was the first time that one had been delivered.
‘A little bit of gratitude’
Kyle said: “I think that showing a little bit of gratitude for what has been delivered today, on behalf of the sectors and businesses that he talked about, would be most welcome.
“I also point out that the 80 years over which there was no strategy included 2010 to 2015, when his party was in government.
“Yesterday I was at Tata in Wales. The management, the ownership, the workers and the unions universally welcome this strategy and the £500 million that has already been put in to help transform the industry.
“That is the example of how we will move forward – with boldness, creativity and urgency.”
Chadwick later expressed anger over the exchange.
Speaking to Nation.Cymru, he said: “Why should I be grateful? Wales has been let down again.
“Communities across South Wales will not forgive Labour if they do not fulfil their promises to our communities.
“We need good jobs in our areas and I will keep fighting for them.”
Railway funding
Last year, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told the Liberal Democrat MP to be “a little bit more grateful” for railway funding Wales received in a UK Government spending review.
It came after Chadwick claimed UK ministers had cheated Wales out of billions of pounds due to several rail projects being classed as “England and Wales” schemes despite them not crossing the Welsh border.
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Why are still part of the Westminster fiasco? We in Wales must be amongst the most spineless people in the World. Any self-respecting nation would have sought and won its independence many years ago.
Why are English Labour Ministers so determined to see Labour wiped out in Wales?
The strategy is not addressing the procurement approach of all UK public sector organisations who ‘spot-buy’ their steel requirements. Network Rail has aggregated demand for steel used for track and buys British as it can give the supplier a long-term framework. English train operators individually buy their requirements for trains; whereas Transport for Wales created a manufacturing supply-chain in Newport with CAF https://news.tfw.wales/news/brand-new-trains-off-the-production-line-in-newport Sellafield Limited had not bought Glove Boxes for over thirty years. A new supply-chain was created in Scotland to supply that contract in addition to that location providing other products. A new supply-chain could not have been… Read more »
It would be interesting to know exactly what he would have done differently to other than what labour did. Especially given that Tata was the primary decision maker in all this.