Welsh secretary says ‘everything is on the table’ in Tata negotiations
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has said “everything is on the table” when it comes to negotiations with Tata Steel.
The company is switching to a greener form of steel production at its plant in Port Talbot, which will lead to thousands of job losses.
The steel giant said its blast furnace operation had become financially unsustainable after incurring losses of £1m a day.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme, she said: “Everything is on the table in terms of what we want to talk to Tata about, I can’t go into kind of the commercial sensitivities of it, but we want to protect as many jobs as possible.”
Asked whether virgin steel will no longer be created at the plant, Ms Stevens said: “I want to see all types of steel products made in the United Kingdom, and I want to see as many as possible made here in Wales.
“As part of the overall discussions with Tata, we want to secure investment from the private sector – and Tata being an obvious partner – into the future of steel making in the United Kingdom.
“And so I think what I can say is that all options are on the table. That better deal has to involve looking at every possible option.”
Plea
The UK Government today announced funding of £13.5 million to support supply chain businesses and workers affected by job losses.
Despite a last-minute union plea to save thousands of jobs, the company plans to press ahead with the closure of its second blast furnace in September.
Tata has begun the process of asking employees if they would accept voluntary redundancy.
The new funding is the first release from the Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board which was set up in response to the plans to decarbonise the plant.
The board has been providing ministers with advice on how to mitigate the impact on workers, businesses and communities.
The aim of the new funding is to support local businesses that are heavily reliant on Tata Steel as their main customer.
The Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Lord Davies of Gower, said the Welsh Secretary needs to lay out how the new financial support will reach the relevant people.
He said: “This deal was only possible because the previous Conservative government intervened in Port Talbot, with one of the biggest support packages in the history of steelmaking to save as many jobs as we could.
“I am also pleased that Jo Stevens and her colleagues have stopped engaging in deeply irresponsible comments, where they implied that a better deal was possible. Tata Steel were crystal-clear that there is no other deal than this.”
Negotiations between the UK Government and Tata Steel regarding the future of the Port Talbot works will continue separately.
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Tata steel are opening a large new blast furnace in India. A convenient replacement for Port Talbot.
Probably partly because, unlike the UK, India’s no intention of eradicating fossil fuels.
…and this perfectly illustrates the farce that has been unfolding in British industry for the last twenty years. We are celebrating the reduction in our carbon emissions, when all that has happened is those emissions have moved to countries with lower environmental standards and lower employment standards.
Blimey! Now you’ve done it – politicians had assumed we were all too dim to notice that.
There have been a lot of dim people in positions of power and influence all jockeying for position on the “most green credentials” league. They totally ignored any initiatives aimed at cleansing existing technologies by applying new knowledge in creative ways. Thus the thermal properties of coal were shunted to one side because they were too effin’ stoopid to look closely at the science that was being validated and commercialised in the early 90’s. All about turning waste streams into products and ignored by vested interests.
It’s staggering how these eco-zealot politicians can simultaneously tell us that Net Zero is wonderful idea and that it’ll bring thousands of ‘green’ jobs; whilst simultaneously lamenting the closure of a steel plant and the tragic loss of thousands of jobs. That’s one of the wonderful things about an ideology: you never have to trouble yourself too much with facts, logic, or rational thought.
If “everything is on the table,” as jo stevens claims, that should include the (best) option of the re-nationalisation of steel production!
Can someone please enlighten us on the difference between Tata and Labours green climate policy. Labour are totally obsessed with climate change with Miliband becoming a dictator over this, so how can Jo Stevens tell us she wants to save jobs and increase steel making in Wales yet Miliband is determined to cut this in a way it’s clear thousands of jobs will definitely happen
Milliband is hell bent on ransacking the UK’s economy. Pleading that TATA or Wales are special cases will make him choke on his bacon sandwich.