Part of 2. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 24 May 2016.
First Minister, could I first of all thank you for the leadership you’ve actually shown during the electoral campaign here in Wales on the steel crisis? My constituents very much appreciated that leadership here in Wales. Since the Assembly last met, actually, on 4 April, when we discussed the steel crisis, there’s been a quickly moving process in the steel crisis, particularly in relation to selling Tara Steel interests here in the UK, and there have been several bodies interested and expressing an interest, and I think yesterday was the deadline for bids going in. What discussions has your Government had with any of those bodies that have submitted bids for buying Tata Steel and, particularly, what support are you offering to those companies? Can you also actually indicate as to whether this includes the continuation of the heavy end at Port Talbot, which is critical to the works, to ensure that not just the works continues as an integrated works—they are making steel from raw materials, but also that’s where a lot of the contractors are employed, and the loss of that heavy end will have a huge impact upon employment in my area.