TORFAEN MP Nick Thomas-Symonds has claimed the UK Government has failed to take action to protect the steel industry in Newport and elsewhere.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, April 13, the Labour MP claimed Conservative ministers had not taken action to enforce tougher rules on non-European Union countries, despite the ongoing crisis in the UK’s steel sector.

The industry was thrown into crisis late last month when Tata Steel, which runs plants in Llanwern, Port Talbot and elsewhere in Britain, announced it would sell its entire UK operation, putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk.

The crisis has been largely blamed on ‘dumping’ of cheap steel from China on the UK market, as well as high energy costs in the UK.

Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “I have strong links to the steel industry as my father worked at Llanwern steel works for over 35 years.

“It is disgraceful that the government is not willing to make these changes when thousands of jobs are at risk.”

Tata’s UK plants officially went up for sale on Monday, April 11. Owner of Liberty Group, which already owns a steel plant in Newport, Sanjeev Gupta previously said he was considering buying the facilities, but it is not clear what the current situation is in this regard.