Responding to today’s news of the UK government’s planned £500m subsidy for Tata Steel, Anthony Slaughter, leader of Wales Green Party said:
“During the election, Labour promised again and again they would protect the future of steel production in Wales. The Welsh Labour Government assured us that a Labour administration at the other end of the M4 would make the difference, yet today’s announcement offers nothing more than the inadequate subsidy already promised by the previous Conservative government.
“The imminent closure of the second blast furnace will have a devastating effect on the highly skilled workforce, their families and the surrounding communities. The need for the transition to green steel production has been understood for decades. Yet successive governments in Westminster and Wales have left the future of communities at the whims of a multinational company. The people of Wales know only too well what happens when governments and industries walk away.
“From wind turbines to trains, we need steel to turn our economy green. Bringing well-paid, dignified jobs back to Wales is at the heart of the change we need. The steel industry should be in public ownership, enabling us to lead the green industrial revolution. Nationalisation, not subsidising multinationals for the benefit of their shareholders, is the only way to secure a future for Green steel production in Wales.”