THERE was devastating news about job losses in the steel industry in Wales this week, with Tata announcing the loss of more than 1,000 jobs, the vast majority of them in South Wales – with 750 posts going in Port Talbot, 200 in support functions at Llanwern in Newport and 100 at three steel mills, including Trostre in Carmarthenshire. The knock-on effects will be felt far and wide.

As an MP whose constituency counts steelmaker Celsa as a major employer, I am only too aware of the knife-edge that the steel industry is on in this country.

We have already seen thousands of job losses from the sector across the UK including hundreds in Llanwern last year, and only a few months ago the complete closure of the plant in Redcar.

In the Commons yesterday, along with fellow Welsh MPs including Stephen Kinnock, Christina Rees and Jess Morden whose constituencies will be particularly badly affected by the latest news, I pressed the minister for urgent action to mitigate the effects of the job losses on local communities, and support those workers facing redundancy.

But this is not a crisis that has come out of the blue.

I told the Minister yesterday: “One of the most frustrating experiences for steelworkers in my constituency, throughout south Wales and throughout the United Kingdom, is knowing that the previous Government were warned again and again and again about the challenges facing the industry. The Minister has told us about the actions that she has taken in the last few months—many of which I welcome, as she knows—but can she say, hand on heart, that the previous steel Minister and the Chancellor did everything they could when they were warned again and again and again about the crisis?”

As I wrote in September, after helping to lead the opposition in a backbench business debate in which Labour called for recognition of the unprecedented gravity of the challenges currently facing the UK steel industry, this is a critical time and of huge significance – not only locally but across the country, with wider implications for the economic security of the UK and its global position in manufacturing.

Decisions taken now by the Government will be crucial in determining whether there will be a sustainable future for steel in this country.

I will continue to work my hardest to ensure that is the case.