Protecting Jobs at the Schaeffler Plant in Llanelli

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:02 pm on 20 November 2018.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 2:02, 20 November 2018

Can I associate myself with what Lee Waters has said about the commitment that the workforce has shown over a period of very many years to that company, and how much they've contributed to their success? I hope that the discussions that you're having will have a positive outcome, but I have to say there's a faint sense here of shutting the stable door after the horse has already gone, and it may be that it's too late to change Schaeffler's mind—I hope that I'll be proved wrong in that, and I'm pleased to see the efforts that are going in.

But, in terms of other manufacturing businesses that may feel that their future is greatly jeopardised by the possibility of Brexit, what more can your Government do to engage with them proactively before they reach the point that Schaeffler has done and they've actually made the decision to leave? As has already been put to you again this afternoon, the most effective way, of course, to deal with these situations would be a people's vote and a decision for us to remain. But, in the meantime, and in the absence of that, what more can you do to engage proactively with particularly international companies in the hope that we can prevent them from getting to the position that Schaeffler has got to?