UK Edition
Theresa May reiterates top-level government support for struggling steel industry
Britain’s crisis-hit steel-making industry has the full support of Government, said Theresa May on her first visit to Wales as the newly installed Prime Minister.
Speaking on a visit to Cardiff for talks with Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones, Mrs May said: “We want to continue to see steel-making here. That is in the Welsh interest but also the UK national interest.”
In a statement ahead of the trip, the Prime Minister said the government was “committed to helping the steel industry secure a long-term viable future in Wales. The steel industry is vital to the UK and we will do everything we can to look after the workers and wider community as we work with Tata and the Welsh government.”
Tata’s giant Port Talbot plant is the UK’s largest steel-making facility but its future has been under threat since March when its Indian owner announced it would sell its entire UK steel business.
The UK steel industry has seen thousands of jobs go over the past year as it buckles under pressure from high energy prices and a flood of subsidised imports from China.
These have been major factors in the collapse into administration of the SSI plant in Redcar, and in Tata's decision to cut thousands of jobs from its UK business, which employs 11,000 people, putting at least twice as many jobs in the supply chain under threat.
Under David Cameron, the government had said it was willing to take a 25pc equity stake alongside a new owner of Tata’s UK steel business, as well as offer loan guarantees worth hundreds of millions in an attempt to secure a sale.
There were concerns that the result of the Brexit vote could put further pressure on the industry, with materials for steel-making becoming more expensive as the pound plunged, and longer-term fears about British steel mills’ ability to export their products from outside the EU.
Upheaval in Government also created worries about whether the industry would still have the same support at senior levels with new residents in No 10 and No 11.
However, Mrs May – whose close aide Nick Timothy is the son of a steelworker – indicated continued support for the sector on the visit, and called the meeting with Mr Jones “constructive”.
Trade body UK Steel called the Prime Minister’s comments on Wales’s steel industry “extremely encouraging”, but said the support must be for the sector across the whole of Britain, adding that it is “the very foundation of great swathes of the UK economy”.
Gareth Stace, director of the organisation, added: “From the very top of Government there now seems to be a firm desire to focus on industry. We look forward to this translating into strong action to address the costs that British steelmakers face, that our overseas competitors don’t, such as higher energy costs and business rates.”
Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty House, which runs several steel mills and is vying to buy parts of Tata’s UK business, added: “We welcome the new Prime Minister's recognition of steel's pivotal role in the UK economy.”
He called for Mrs May to end the “uncertainty” over the fate of Tata’s plants and their employees, adding: “Primary steel production, as part of an industrial strategy, is essential to rebuilding the UK’s competitiveness and long-term industrial presence.”