BRIDGEND MP Jamie Wallis is to contact Chancellor Rishi Sunak about the future of the giant Tata steelworks in Port Talbot.
Welsh Conservative Dr Wallis pointed out that thousands of people employed either directly at the plant or by sub-contractors live within his Bridgend constituency.
He said: “Many people living throughout the area, including places like Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cornelly, have traditionally been employed there. Indeed, in many cases it has gone down through the generations with sons and daughters following their parents into the massive steel plant which is pivotal not only to the Welsh economy but also to the UK’s manufacturing base as we must safeguard our capacity as a country to produce our own steel.
“I have raised the importance of the Port Talbot steelworks to the entire Welsh economy during debates in Parliament since I was elected. We have all seen during this current lockdown the dangers of relying on countries like China to supply us with our basic needs including steel. Indeed, I have only this week joined the newly formed China Research Group of MP’s which will be investigating how dependent we are on Chinese imports and whether this undermines our own manufacturing base here in Wales and in the UK.
“I appreciate that Tata is in a difficult position with the demand for steel dropping of a cliff especially as much of the car industry has closed down. I gather that Tata is asking for a bridging loan to carry it through the crisis which has caused its cash-flow problem.
“This is something that I could support provided there are guarantees that the money would be used to support jobs in Port Talbot. The government’s Business Interruption Loan scheme has a cap at £50m but Tata needs more. I will be writing to Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to see if there can be any flexibility in this.
“But the point has also been made to me that Tata’s steel making business is linked to its plant in the Netherlands which it took over as part of the old Corus Steel. It would be interesting to find out if the company has approached the Dutch Government for help as well.
“I will do everything I can to help protect the jobs at the steelworks and also the many thousands of others in the supply chain. We need to ensure that the steel works remains open once this crisis is over.
“The government’s entire economic strategy during this Covid 19 pandemic has been designed to help businesses come out of lockdown still able to employ their workforce. We need to ensure that this path exists for our steel industry as well as for the rest of the economy.”
