FM says Scunthorpe steel help cannot be at expense of Wales

UK government support for the Scunthorpe steel works cannot be at the expense of Welsh steel communities, Eluned Morgan has said.

The Labour first minister said she "understood" why Welsh communities were "frustrated" after Westminster stepped in to take control of Scunthorpe steelworks.

Morgan called for her party colleagues in Westminster to provide a "significant share" of a £2.5bn steel fund in Wales, and warned against spending the funds on keeping the British Steel plant going.

Plaid Cymru have accused the UK government of double standards over the Port Talbot plant, which has seen its blast furnaces close. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has denied favouritism towards Scunthorpe.

The Welsh Conservatives said many were unhappy with the different approaches.

Morgan defended the decision by the UK government, says the two situations were not comparable and it would have been "unrealistic" for ministers to take control of Port Talbot.

But she said she would be making a speech next week on how she plans to work with the UK government in future.

Traditional steel production in Wales came to an end in September, with the loss of some 2,800 jobs at Tata Steel's Port Talbot plant.

The site is now transitioning to greener steel production with a new electric arc furnace, which requires fewer workers to run and is expected to be in place from 2027. In the Senedd, Morgan said it will be start to be built "this July".

MPs were recalled for an emergency debate during the Easter so they could pass a law to allow the UK government to take control of British Steel, in Scunthorpe.

The UK government had accused the Chinese owner of intending intended to cease primary steel making there.

Speaking in the Senedd's first ministers questions' session, Morgan said: "Port Talbot, Llanwern... Shotton have be going through a really tough time."

"There has been a Damocles' sword hanging over the steel sector for a very long time."

She said she had been "making representations to the Conservative government" - before she corrected herself to say she had been speaking to the "Labour government" - "to make sure they understand that there is an opportunity for them here to stand with the Welsh workforce".

The first minister called for a "significant share" of the £2.5bn green steel fund.

Later, she added: "We understood that the fund was intended to be for capital funding for transformation and not for revenue support.

"We don't want to see this funding going on revenue support of the Scunthorpe plant at the expense of the situation in Welsh steel."

She told the Senedd she had written to the UK government about the matter, which she said she would be "happy to release". BBC Wales has asked for a copy of the letter.

Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth said it was "quite a slip of the tongue from the first minister wasn't it, betraying the fact that we have such a Conservative Labour UK government".

"It simply isn't true that there wasn't time to save Port Talbot.

"Scunthorpe was saved, essentially, in a matter of days, and yet there were three months between the election and the blast furnaces in Port Talbot shutting down for good."

On Tuesday Morgan brought a statement to the Senedd on the events in Scunthorpe, where she addressed those who believed that the UK government should have legislated to take control of the Port Talbot plant.

"That would have been unrealistic and unworkable because of the opposition from Tata. It would have led to prolonged legal conflict with the company", she said.

She said it could have meant the withdrawal of Tata's £700m contribution to the constriction of the electric arc furnace, and defended the UK government's actions on Port Talbot saying it had secured a better agreement than their Tory predecessors - who had made the original deal on the plant.

Morgan said one furnace was shut on the day of the general election last year.

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar had requested a recall of the Senedd to discuss the issue - which the presiding officer Elin Jones had rejected.

In the Senedd he said "many" were upset with the "very different approach" that was being taken.

"Many Labour ministers have obviously began to notice that the steel industry, in order to produce virgin steel, needs a lot of coal," he said, calling for a change in policy from the Welsh government on the industry.

He went on to accuse the Welsh government of turning its "nose up" at the electric arc deal arranged by the previous UK government.

Morgan went on to criticise the Conservatives for not acting constructively.

Tuesday's events in the Senedd took place in a temporary chamber in the Ty Hywel office building, rather than the Senedd debating chamber which is being refurbished ahead of the expansion of the Welsh Parliament from 60 to 96 politicians.

The UK government did not response with a comment following a request from BBC Wales.

However it referred to previous comments from the Secretary of State, John Reynolds, who said: "There's been absolutely no favouritism (towards Scunthorpe)".

"It's always about the whole of the UK when it comes to the actions that I take.

"The fundamental point is Port Talbot is in a better position than Scunthorpe because it has that long-term future in place.

"If I followed instructions or demands to nationalise Port Talbot, we'd have lost that private sector investment coming in to do that."