Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025

Lord Murphy of Torfaen Excerpts

Thursday 23rd October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Lab)]

My Lords, I begin by paying tribute to my noble friend Lady Lloyd, who gave a very elegant but very modest speech. I know from my experience in Tony Blair’s Government that she played a pivotal role in the machinery of government and all the successes of that Government. I wish her well and remind her that it is extremely unusual to make a maiden speech from the Dispatch Box. I am sure she will do a great job in the position she now holds. I also look forward to the speech of my noble friend Lord Stockwood at the end of this important debate on steel. He too has had a distinguished career, in business, and I am sure he will do a great job in the position he now holds as well.

My life has been mixed up in steel for nearly 70-odd years. My great-grandfather came from Ireland to work in the steel industry in my constituency of Torfaen, which was instrumental in developing the Bessemer process for steel-making. We had a steelworks, Panteg, which made great stainless steel, linked as it was to Sheffield. For 15-odd years, I taught in the college at Ebbw Vale, which relied almost exclusively on the steel industry and the people who worked in it. When that great steelworks in Ebbw Vale closed, the whole community was blighted and devastated. I will come in a few moments to Port Talbot, whose community relies so heavily on steel. In north and south Wales, coal and steel were our communities. It is not simply an issue of economics but of how the whole country of Wales was dependent on these industries for employment. Now we have Tata in Port Talbot, Llanwern and Trostre—just three, with some smaller ones elsewhere. In comparison with many years ago, it is very different.

Back in 2001, when I was Secretary of State for Wales, I and Stephen Byers, who was then the Trade and Industry Secretary, tried to save lots of that steel industry from the cuts made by what was then Corus. We partly failed but partly succeeded. The point is that this was the state trying to help what is in many ways our greatest industry—not very successfully, but we did our bit and managed to keep the industry going.

I was very interested to hear the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral. Over 30 years ago, I shadowed him when he held the job of Secretary of State for Wales. He will know how important steel is to the Welsh economy and community. He rightly referred to the contributions that his Government made before the general election—half a billion pounds towards investment in Port Talbot and the conversion to electric arc. I and others welcomed that. I would have preferred the blast furnaces to stay open, but Tata had made its decision and started closing them on the very day the general election was called. However, I think the future of Port Talbot is safe in a different way; eventually, 5,000 jobs will come with the development of the electric arc furnace and the rest of it.

The other point, which has been very well made, is that it is about not just the physical business of the industry—the plant itself—but what happens to the people who have been displaced in Port Talbot as a consequence of the change of direction. I am glad to say that this Government and the Welsh Government are putting together proposals, I think of over £80 million, to ensure that people are retrained and there are new jobs and businesses. This transition from what was then to what is to be in Port Talbot is considerable. Incidentally, I have some sympathy with the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, about the cost of energy. However important it is for our environment, it is causing us grave difficulties in the competitive world market.

The position in Port Talbot, Llanwern and Trostre has changed in the last few weeks. At one time, when the plants closed for Christmas, they did so for two weeks. They are now closing for five weeks. That has meant a reduction of some 65% in the income of those who rely on the steel industry in those towns. That is very unfortunate and is largely a result of two things. Despite the fact that we will benefit with regard to the tariffs from the United States, the effect worldwide has meant that China, Vietnam and other countries have dumped their steel into our country. This has an obvious adverse effect on our old steel industry. Coupled with that is the very bad decision of the European Union to impose a 50% tariff on steel from this country. The combination of both those things has resulted in the reduction of the workforce working over Christmas in Port Talbot.

What is to be done? The Government have a significant task to try to ensure that we can avoid the dumping of steel in our country. If that involves income tariffs, so be it. There should also be considerable negotiations with the European Union on whether it can reduce that 50% tariff to help save our jobs in the steel industry. I am sure my noble friend will do that, and I know that my constituency successor, the right honourable Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Paymaster-General, who has duties with regard to our relationship with the European Union, is pursuing it as well. There is a lot to be done and negotiated, and a lot relies upon it. No great country, least of all one that is a member of the G7, can be without a great steel industry. It therefore has to be saved. No part of our country is more affected than the country and the constituency that I come from, in Wales.

Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Lord Murphy of Torfaen Excerpts

Tuesday 19th September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Lab)]

My Lords, can I press the Minister on the point of process and communication that he has touched on? When I had the privilege of being the Secretary of State for Wales, I went to Port Talbot steelworks on many occasions. On those occasions, I saw a very close relationship with the trade unions and the representatives of the workforce. It seems to me that they have been completely left out of making the case for changes in Port Talbot. After all, 3,000 jobs have been lost—a terrible price to pay for what the Minister referred to as a “triumph” in ensuring that we keep the steelworks in Port Talbot. Can he tell me whether any attempt was made to deal with the trade unions before this announcement was made? Can he tell the House whether the Welsh Government were involved before the announcement was made? Can he also tell us what effect this will have on the steel plants in Trostre and Llanwern?

[Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)]

I am very grateful to the noble Lord for his points. I think it would be very unfair to suggest that at any point the Government or myself—I would say this personally—are somehow triumphant about people not having their employment. I think that is very unfair of any noble Lord in this House to suggest that there is triumphalism over an important transformation.

However, it is right to celebrate the saving of many thousands of jobs, and the opportunity to repoint our steel industry, which the noble Lord cares about with his heritage and history. We are surely working as one here in solving an extremely complex problem for the better. I could not think of any other outcome that could be as optimised as this. That does not mean that every outcome does not have an element of compromise. In the short term, there have been very difficult decisions to make, but I have made it very clear that the Government take this incredibly seriously. A huge number of lessons have been learned over the last 40 years in terms of industrial transformation. That is why we are committing £100 million specifically to the transformation fund, to ensure that people are insulated to some extent from the effects, and so that we can service communities and assist individuals who may find themselves without employment in that specific job in the future. We also hope that we will create tens of thousands of jobs for the communities of Port Talbot through this act.

There is a question that has come up often and with which I have sympathy, and I hope the noble Lord will give me credit for that. I understand there is frustration about the consultation process that led to the announcement last week. I am sure that many people would have liked to be consulted, but it is very difficult to engage with a broad group on specific commercial transactions such as this. Having said that, as far as I am aware, there has been a huge number of engagements and consultations with all the unions involved—the three unions at Port Talbot—and with the Welsh Government. It is very important that we have some clarity now that this deal has been announced. The people of Port Talbot and the staff of the plant can now know what the future is, when last week they did not. From my point of view, that is one of the most important flags for the future. It gives us the opportunity to have the structure around which to have proper consultation, which the company is obliged to take part in and would want to do so in any case. So some of these questions will be answered in the near future and I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question.