Rishi Sunak slammed for saying pleas to save more steel jobs are 'churlish'
Welsh economy minister Vaughan Gething slammed Rishi Sunak for saying it’s “churlish” to complain about thousands of job losses in Port Talbot.
The PM was asked by Labour MP Sarah Champion in the Commons to back an alternative plan for the town’s steelworks that would save all 8,000 at the plant while still transitioning to low carbon steelmaking.
Tata Steel, which owns the South Wales plant, formally rejected proposals from the Community and GMB unions.
It means the Indian firm will press ahead with their plan to close the last two blast furnaces at the plant, replacing them with an Electric Arc Furnace (EAC).
That would mean almost 3,000 job losses by 2027.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
But Mr Sunak told Ms Champion the government’s intervention had safeguarded 5,000 jobs, saying it was “entirely churlish” of her not to recognise “one of the largest support packages that any Government have provided to any company.”
Responding to the comments, Mr Gething said: “It tells you an awful lot.
“It’s not just someone who’s disconnected with the reality of life on a number of fronts, but not to understand what that means for thousands of families…and that language will be really inflammatory.”
He added: “If Rishi Sunak really thinks it’s churlish to want an alternative that doesn’t offshore Welsh workers’ jobs and Welsh emissions, then he has to be prepared to front up and meet with these steel workers.”
"The UK government really needs to think again," he went on. "They need to think about what does it mean for UK security. And are we happy to be reliant on competitor economies to import steel for the future."
And he said the current plan did not represent a "just" transition to lower carbon steelmaking.
The Unions' alternative plan would see just one blast furnace closed and replaced with a smaller EAC.
The remaining blast furnace would have continued to operate until the end of its life cycle in 2032.
The plan also recommended the construction of a Direct Iron Reduction (DRI) plant for the production of virgin steel in the electric furnace.
Without such a plant, electric arc furnaces can only make steel from scrap metal, not from iron ore.
8 money changes coming in February including Universal Credit and passport fees
"This is not a just transition," he said. "You need to invest in the future to get to a better future.
"There is a much better way that has an electric arc furnace as part of the answer, but also maintains one of the blast furnaces to make sure we're not reliant on other parts of the world for the steel that's important for today and the economy of tomorrow."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
