I would particularly like to thank those steelworkers, past and present, who have reached out to us to thank us for saying, on the record, what many of them privately feel. The question I think that is at the forefront of our minds at the moment in relation to Tata’s proposals is twofold: one, does it provide a sustainable, viable future for the steel industry in Wales going forward? And secondly, is it fair to all stakeholders, including, of course, steelworkers and steel pensioners? And we, certainly on these benches, have very real concerns, which I think are shared by many in the workforce, and it’s that that I will seek to address in my comments here this afternoon. I’ll cover the three main areas covered in the proposal—employment, investment and pension—and then say something about the deal overall and, crucially, what can be done. That’s the focus, really, surely, for us in the place: what can be done to improve this situation.

Now, as far as employment is concerned, the proposal, as has been reported in the public domain—I’m reliant on that information, and the information that I’ve garnered in speaking to steelworkers myself—states that there is the commitment to seek to avoid redundancies over a five-year period. The problem, of course, is immediately apparent: ‘seek to avoid’ actually is no clear concrete commitment at all. I’ve written a few manifestos in my time—I know this kind of language. It’s not a bankable promise, unfortunately, as it currently stands.

Now, the employment pact mechanism actually emerges from continental Europe—it’s been in place in Tata Steel in the Netherlands; in fact, it goes back to the days of Corus in 1999. It would be interesting to compare and contrast the new employment pact that has just recently been agreed for Tata Steel Netherlands for the next five-year period. But there are some detailed commitments there that have been reported, for example a 21-month retraining and redeployment right for all workers effected by restructuring. So, again, we see, certainly, a greater level of commitment in terms of the detail in that employment pact. The reason why the employment guarantee is crucial is because we know that there is an intention to move forward with a merger with ThyssenKrupp. Indeed, the chief executive officer of ThyssenKrupp, Heinrich Hiesinger, has said recently that those discussions are ongoing. And he is on the record as saying there’s only one reason, of course, for that merger, and that’s to take out capacity. What does capacity mean? That means jobs. Who is going to be on the front line of those cuts? Well, I’ll give you a clue: I don’t think it’s going to be ThyssenKrupp. I don’t think it’s going to be Tata Steel Netherlands. So, you can fill in the blanks. And, unfortunately, as currently constituted, that employment guarantee does not give us, and certainly doesn’t give the steelworkers, I think, the kind of confidence that they deserve.

Similarly on the investment plan: £1 billion over a 10-year period—by the way, that actually really only allows us to maintain the current level of capital investment. That’s not a transformational level of investment. That just allows us to keep the steelworks going at the current rate of efficiency. But, again, it’s contingent, we’re told, upon gross profits, an EBITDA, of £200 million a year from Tata Steel UK—I’ll give way to the honourable Member.