Uncertainty over Port Talbot’s future ‘causing supply chain job losses’

Wales secretary says Tories should have prepared for workforce cuts resulting from switch to electric arc furnace

Uncertainty over the future of Tata Steel in south Wales is already causing job losses in the broader industry, the Welsh secretary has warned, as the government scrambles to reduce the toll of redundancies in Port Talbot.

Speaking on Wednesday ahead of announcing the first 13.5m tranche of funding to support laid-off workers, the secretary of state for Wales, Jo Stevens, criticised the former Conservative government for what she said was a failure to prepare for the possibility of thousands of jobs losses at Port Talbot.