00:01But what my party cannot support is his government's approach to steel in the UK,
00:06which deems that steel in Scunthorpe is worth saving, but not steel in Wales.
00:13Where was this urgency when Welsh steel communities were crying out for support?
00:19When Tata Steel announced over 2,800 job losses in Port Talbot last year,
00:24the largest steelworks in the country, a key strategic asset,
00:28the manufacturing heart of South Wales, there was no recall of Parliament,
00:32no Saturday sitting, no emergency legislation and no rapid mobilisation of government to save the day.
00:41It's been a tumultuous, complicated and controversial few days in Westminster,
00:45with the nationalisation of Scunthorpe steelworks being rushed through Parliament in a bid to protect its future.
00:51It has been widely supported throughout Parliament, but many politicians are questioning
00:55why it happened so quickly for Scunthorpe, but the same didn't happen for Port Talbot last year.
01:01The site just off the M4 cut 2,800 jobs and has left the steelworking industry in South Wales
01:07with a difficult future, with the job losses and impact on the local economy as well.
01:13Politicians have spoken out strongly about the decisions that were made for England,
01:16but not for Wales, with accusations of double standards and questions alluding to the fact
01:20that on this side of the border, it just wasn't as important.
01:25Following last year's closures of the blast furnaces at Port Talbot,
01:29many of my constituents have lost their jobs or seen their incomes fall.
01:34That includes the thousands of workers who were laid off at the plant itself,
01:38but also includes those further down the supply chain, including haulage drivers and payroll clerks,
01:44providing services to the 2,000 local businesses that have been impacted by that closure.
01:50The closure of Port Talbot's blast furnaces started an economic contraction in South Wales
01:55that is still underway.
01:57Many highly skilled workers, particularly welders, are leaving South Wales in search of opportunities elsewhere.
02:05Jonathan Reynolds, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, however,
02:08argues that Port Talbot's fate was sealed well before Labour even came to power.
02:12And despite some renegotiations, privatisation of South Wales' biggest steelworks wasn't an option.
02:18The Port Talbot deal was originally negotiated by the previous government.
02:22I did try to reopen that. I went to see Chandra in Davos.
02:25I flew to Mumbai to talk to him about it.
02:28I kept, to be frank, Port Talbot open on polling day,
02:31because it would have closed because of industrial action that almost took place.
02:34The present government were absolutely nowhere to be seen even before the result of the election was in.
02:41We were not able to reopen the deal, but we did negotiate a better deal.
02:46And just to be clear, as a result of that, Port Talbot is in a stronger position than the British deal,
02:51because it has that long-term future in place, because we improved the deal that she butched at that time.
02:59Thank you for the report.
03:00Thank you for tuning in.
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