Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:36 pm on 17 September 2019.
Well, Llywydd, the £50 million investment is only one part of the set of reasons that were identified by Tata in coming to their decision. Not only did they say that it would require an investment of that scale, but they also pointed to the fact that Orb Electrical Steels is part of the Cogent Power group, and Cogent have a plant in Sweden that already manufactures steel that is used in electric vehicles. So, the money by itself was not the issue; it's an issue of the global construction of the steel industry, and where companies choose to make their investments and where they choose to source the steel that they need. Now, of course we would like to see that investment in Wales. Of course we think there is a powerful case for making sure that there is a UK supplier of the sort of steel that will be needed for electric vehicles and the wider automotive industry, and we make that case to Tata and with our trade union colleagues. But the steel industry is in a global set of difficulties and concerns, and Tata Steel and the events at Orb cannot be isolated from those wider considerations—wider considerations for which the UK Government has to take a responsibility.