Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader to call for Welsh steel industry to be nationalised

Emily Price

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts will call for the steel industry to be nationalised and the creation of a Welsh steel co-operative in a speech later today.

Her comments come following confirmation last week that Tata Steel plans to cut 2,800 jobs from its UK workforce and close both blast furnaces in Port Talbot.

Tata has said its current operations are financially unviable and will end the production of primary steel, also known as virgin steel, this year.

The UK Government is contributing £500m towards the cost of an electric arc furnace.

In comparison, Germany has invested €2.6 billion (£2.2 billion) to support Stahl-Holding-Saar decarbonise its steel production through hydrogen use in one region alone.

Germany’s economy ministry is also planning €50 billion (£42.8 billion) in tax breaks over the next four years to help industry and businesses cope with high energy prices.

Plaid Cymru has urged the UK Government to act to save the steel industry through public investment on the scale offered by Germany.

 Crash

The party’s Westminster leader has also called for investment in the capacity to produce primary steel through green hydrogen furnaces, following the example of Spain, Canada and Sweden.

Ms Saville Roberts drew a comparison with the 2008 financial crash, asking “we could save the banks in 2008, why can’t we do the same for steel now?”

During the debate in Westminster this evening, Ms Saville Roberts is expected to say:“Steel is a strategically important industry for the entire UK. It is vital for supporting the green transition, from energy generation to electric cars.

“For decades successive Westminster governments have allowed the steel industry to decay with the short-term vision of lemmings and the sense of social justice of hyenas.

“Plaid Cymru has called for action to ensure that ownership of the Welsh steel industry should be returned to Welsh public control. This would involve nationalisation, then recapitalisation through green bonds, with a view to mutualise and create a Welsh Steel Co-operative.

“We could save the banks in 2008, why can’t we do the same for steel now?

“Look at Germany, who spent €2.6 billion in state aid to steel producers for decarbonisation projects in 2023. This is the sort of scale of intervention we need.

“We must also learn from other countries such as Spain, Canada and Sweden who are already investing in their capacity to produce primary steel through green hydrogen furnaces.

“There are lessons here for Wales. There are suggestions that a ‘closed-loop cycle’ could be created in south Wales, whereby floating offshore wind is not only used for electricity but to make green hydrogen for local heavy industry, including steel production.

“These are the sorts of exciting opportunities which we should be grasping now in Wales. Yet we are being let down yet again by a Westminster Government who are stripping Welsh assets while leaving the Senedd to bear the costs of communities and individual lives thrown on the scrap heap.”