Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:37 pm on 11 June 2019.
Diolch, Llywydd. I think it's fair to say that Ford's decision appeared to be a genuine shock to the Welsh Government on Friday. The combination of factors that contributed to the decision, though, would have been less of a surprise, because of Ford's previous statements, especially its announcement in January that it was shedding over 1,000 jobs at the factory. The economy Minister referred earlier to the working group that had already been established to look at potential opportunities for Ford, in light of its difficulties. I was wondering: could you say a little bit more about the work of that previous taskforce—the extent to which it met, the level of engagement with senior management at Ford and the contours of the strategy that it was developing? Did it examine, specifically, the proposals referred to earlier to help save some of the jobs at the plant through the reported interest by INEOS Automotive in assembling its proposed Land Rover Defender-style vehicle in Bridgend, and, for example, a proposal to build a power station for the plant to reduce energy costs, similar to the plan that the Welsh Government supported as part of its efforts to save Port Talbot steelworks? Can you say, First Minister, as well if you plan to meet the president and chief executive officer of Ford urgently? I think I recall your predecessor flying out to India at the time of the Tata crisis. When Michelin, last November in Scotland, announced a plan to close its Dundee plant, the Scottish Finance Minister flew out immediately to meet its senior management in France. And it was at least able to secure a continuing involvement of Michelin, through a joint venture with the Scottish Government and other partners. Finally, to prevent us being blindsided again by this kind of catastrophic announcement on closure, do we need, urgently, an industrial resilience strategy for Wales, given the uncertain times that we're facing? And will you as First Minister, and your ministerial colleagues, now be speaking, over the next few weeks, with every single one of the anchor company's senior management in Wales?