UK Steel Strategy
Lord Jones Excerpts(1 day, 10 hours ago)
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Lord Jones (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Statement, delivered persuasively and helpfully. What good news might be given for the steelworkers of Wales? We once had a mighty industry, up until the late 1970s. Not any more. We employed tens of thousands in that once-great industry.
The ministerial foreword by the Secretary of State and Minister of State, Messrs Kyle and McDonald, was apposite. I liked their basic statement:
“This decline is not inevitable”.
I also liked their two concluding sentences:
“Steel built our past. It will shape our future”.
Certainly, the Welsh steelworker helped to defeat the Kaiser and Adolf Hitler. We have a mighty record: a case in point now is Port Talbot. What good news might be given for the steelworkers of Wales?
I declare an interest: I worked in a giant steelworks called Shotton in north-east Wales. At its tremendous best, as late as 1980, some 14,000 worked on site. Not now: there are much less than 1,000. When I worked there, I was a common labourer. I worked on the furnace stage of number 2 blast furnace, and my role was at the point when the metal burst from the furnace base.
Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
My noble friend brings his experience and wisdom to the House. Welsh steel is expected to account for half of future UK steelmaking. As he will be aware, we have also invested £500 million in the electric arc furnace in Port Talbot. In addition to that, the Secretary of State for Wales will convene the National Wealth Fund and the private sector in a new initiative to help unlock investment in Welsh steel projects to help and support communities across Wales that rely on the industry.