Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Yesterday was the fifteenth anniversary of the horrific explosion at blast furnace No. 5 at the Port Talbot steelworks. The explosion occurred at 5.15 p.m. on 8 November 2001, and many residents in Port Talbot quickly became aware of the incident after hearing the loud bang of the explosion.

Three steelworkers lost their lives that day—Andrew Hutin, age 20, Stephen Galsworthy, age 25, both from Port Talbot, and Len Radford, age 53, from Maesteg. Several other steelworkers were injured, and some of those experienced life-changing injuries.

The emergency services, both internal at the steelworks and external, quickly responded and attended the site. They faced horrific scenes. The injured, many with severe burns, were transported to the various hospitals in the area, and received excellent care from the NHS. Today I want to remember those who died, those who were injured, and those who suffered, and are still suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result of being at that event. And we must also not forget their families. I also want to, once again, say ‘thank you’ to all the emergency staff and the NHS staff who responded to this incident.

As we seek to secure the future of the steel industry here in Wales, we must not lose sight of the dangers that steelworkers face every time they start their shifts in our steelworks, and, in doing so, steelworkers are delivering for the UK. It is important that we now deliver a strong and safe industry for them.