Labour MP Stephen Kinnock urged ministers to follow EU proposals designed to protect the steel industry within the trade bloc, or face a “flood” of foreign steel into the UK.
The Aberavon MP, whose constituency covers the Port Talbot steelworks, was speaking in the House of Commons a day after steelworkers from across the UK demonstrated in Parliament Square.
They were calling for a “proper industrial strategy” for the sector, as new figures show almost 150,000 jobs have been lost in the industry over the past 40 years. The GMB union said its research suggests that between 1981 and 2021 almost 80 per cent of jobs in the entire steel sector have gone.
Kinnock told the Commons: “Hundreds of steel workers gathered in Westminster yesterday to make it absolutely clear they feel that the government is not doing enough, particularly when compared to competitor nations in terms of investing in the transition to decarbonise steel.
“The numbers on that do not lie...