Similarly to Hannah, I will stress the wider picture in Wales regarding steel and the need to support the steel industry moving forward, Dirprwy Lywydd, because, obviously, in my area of Newport we have the Llanwern Tata works, we have the Orb works, which is part of Tata Steel, and also Liberty and a number of smaller operators as well. So, steel is still very important to Newport and the surrounding regional economy. I think it’s clear from the debate already here today that the effects of Brexit in the majority view does make life more difficult, more stressful and more worrying for the steel industry and steelworkers in Wales. That’s why I’m pleased that the Welsh Government amendment recognises that and puts it in the context of, following Brexit, the need for UK Government and Welsh Government to work ever more closely together to address the needs of the steel industry in Wales. So, although the wording of this motion concentrates on Port Talbot, we know very well that Port Talbot is integrated with the other Tata steelworks in Wales, and we do have to look at the holistic picture if we’re going to do the job for steel in Wales that the people of Wales, and steelworkers especially, would expect of us.

As far as Newport is concerned, then, Dirprwy Lywydd, we have had, I think, a very productive working relationship with Welsh Government over a period of time. I recently visited the Llanwern steelworks, along with the First Minister. It was quite clear that there is a good working relationship. There is a very good quality of product there at Llanwern, exemplified by the Zodiac plant, for example, which produces very high-quality steel for the car industry. And, similarly, in a recent visit to the Orb works, they were absolutely crystal clear that they have a good working relationship with Welsh Government. It’s about support for investment, support for new processes, and, indeed, skills development, and they want to see that relationship strengthened and taken forward in the light of the new situation and the new concerns. And particularly with Liberty, having visited there just the other week, they, of course, are part of the bidding process for Tata Steel, but they also have independent operations in Newport that incorporate energy development as well as steel. They are ambitious; they’re a multinational company with real resource. They have the current coal-fired power station at Uskmouth, which they would like to convert to biomass. They are part of the consortium that wishes to take forward tidal lagoons in Swansea, of course, and in Newport and Cardiff, and the energy that those lagoons produce could be an important part of their overall plans. They term it ‘green steel’, Dirprwy Llywydd, and it is about energy production to meet the great energy needs of steel. It’s about recycling scrap and perhaps bringing electric arc furnaces to that Newport site to provide the facility to process that scrap metal.

So, putting all of that together, their requirement—and this was their plea to me, really—was to work with Welsh Government to get the message across to the UK administration that they require important decisions to be taken in a timely fashion, for example, with regard to those energy needs, with regard to the conversion to biomass for that Uskmouth power plant, and with regard to decisions on the tidal lagoons. They are impatient to see progress with these decisions and I very much understand that impatience. I would like to say today, Dirprwy Llywydd, that in the current context, with all the uncertainty that’s around, we could have greater certainty on the way ahead if we had timely and, you know, the right decisions on those energy questions. I hope very much that the UK Government is listening and will act in very short order.