Keir Starmer denies giving steelworkers 'false hope' as he bats away Wales funding question

• ITV Cymru Wales' Sion Jenkins asks Prime Minister Keir Starmer about funding for Wales, steelworkers' future and renewable energy.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has denied giving Port Talbot steelworkers "false hope" ahead of the planned closure of the Tata plant's second blast furnace in September, while batting away questions on whether a Labour UK Government equates to more money for Wales.

The prime minister visited a hillside wind farm around seven miles north of Carmarthen on Tuesday with First Minister Eluned Morgan, where he described green power as a “massive opportunity” for the nation.

He also vowed to do "everything we can" to safeguard jobs in Port Talbot, the seaside town where Tata Steel UK is set to close its final blast furnace in September as part of a move to electric arc steelmaking, a £1.25billion investment which could cut direct CO2 emissions by 90%.

The firm is set to shed around 2,800 UK posts as part of the transition, with a new electric arc furnace due by 2027.

“I don’t want to give false hope,” he said.

"We’re working really hard on this, both the First Minister and myself jointly on this, because it’s so important that we do everything we can to preserve those jobs.

"We were working on this when I was in opposition – we’ve turbocharged that since we’ve been in power."

The UK Government has released £13.5million in funding to support supply chain businesses and workers affected by the transition to lower-carbon steelmaking at Tata.

Money will go towards supply chain companies which rely on Tata as their primary customer, to help them turn towards new markets and customers, according to the government, with cash available for affected workers to aid in their searches for new jobs, training and qualifications.

Sir Keir added: “Of course it’s difficult, I think everybody understands that.

“We’ve been able to put some money down just in the last week or so, particularly with the supply chain side of it, but we will do everything we can to preserve those jobs.”

The prime minister had discussed steelmaking with the first minister, who took on the top job in Welsh politics in July, at a meeting in Cardiff on Monday.

"We’re going to need more steel," Sir Keir pledged.

Sir Keir pointed to collaboration between two governments of the same party at both sides of the M4, but when asked if this equates to more money for Wales, the PM refused to be drawn.

Asked what he will say to Baroness Morgan when she asks for more money for the Welsh Government, he said: "Now that's a too open-ended question to possibly give an answer to.

"Of course, there are discussions about financial support, there always will be, always have been, and that's a healthy discussion to have.

"The mindset has changed to one of collaboration.

"For many projects like this, it is partly about money but it is also to do with ambition, the strategic thinking."

He pointed to money being earmarked for Wales through the Barnett Formula via heightened spending on cutting NHS waiting times in England.

When the UK government decides to spend more or less on things like health and education in England, the Barnett formula is used to decide how much money the devolved nations receive.

"If you take the NHS, for example, we will absolutely make it our priority to bring waiting lists down in England, that's done by closing the tax loophole for non-doms and others, and that means there's a release of money for Wales, which will be used, I think, on waiting lists," he said.

"The first minister will determine exactly how that's used.

"Some of these challenges - whether devolved or not - are shared challenges we can work together on."

The occupier of Welsh politics' top job has changed three times this year, with Mark Drakeford stepping down as FM in March after five years in the job. He was succeeded by Vaughan Gething, who resigned in July after a turbulent four months which were dominated by rows over donations and a sacked minister, which led to former health secretary Eluned Morgan taking over last month.

Sir Keir previously hit out at the “ridiculous, chaotic circus” of the Conservative leadership contest in October 2022, which former prime minister Rishi Sunak went on to win.

Asked if he would describe Welsh Labour events of this year in the same terms, the prime minister said: "I don't see it that way," he said.

"We now have a new first minister. That's a good reset moment. We had a good discussion yesterday.

"You've got two governments working together to deliver for Wales. That collaboration, that determination to deliver for Wales, I think is really important.

"I think it's been the missing bit for the last 14 years.

"Tough choices are to come, of course, but now, whatever the issue - whether it's jobs, the health service, renewable energy - we'll be on the phone to each other, working together.

"The question I ask myself is, how do we deliver for Wales? Not 'what's the political advantage over some other political party?'"

Speaking at the 57.4-megawatt Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm, Sir Keir said he was eyeing Wales’ natural resources and shallow seas as part of his government’s pledge to accelerate renewable energy production.

He said: "We’re here today looking at a particular project which is very successful in the energy that it generates but also in what it does for local communities – the work that it’s doing for communities near here is hugely important. That’s a model that we want to build on."

The prime minister said GB Energy – a Scotland-based, government-owned investment vehicle – will "sit alongside that" model once the Bill to create it is passed, and added Whitehall is able to “talk about what we can do offshore” after ministers struck a deal with the Crown Estate.

"There’s a huge opportunity here for Wales which has got the resources, it’s got the natural resources, it’s got the shallow seas, and it’s got the skilled people here in Wales that can operate this," he said.

"This is a massive opportunity and we intend to work together to take that opportunity on behalf of everybody living in Wales.

"We will put public money behind that but that public money will be used to generate a catalyst, if you like, for the private investment that we need.

"The economy is in a very bad state after the last government in Westminster, but nonetheless the renewable energy transition is very important to us.

"The election of a Labour Government in Westminster is a gamechanger. So, for the first time, you’ve got a Welsh Government that has a Westminster Government that wants to work with and collaborate, after 14 years of having a Westminster Government that basically didn’t want to collaborate and co-operate in that way.

“So that is a gamechanger because it means the First Minister and I can deliver together for Wales, and that’s our joint work.

“That’s what we will be absolutely focused on. What we’re doing in relation to the transition on energy is crucial to that."

Asked why he would not devolve the Crown Estate to Welsh Government, as it has previously called for, Sir Keir said: "I think the most important thing to start with is to get that agreement with GB Energy and the Crown Estate so we can start the work that we need.

"What we will now do is work with the Welsh Government on how best to proceed.

"My default position is collaboration and support. You're not going to have what you've had for the last 14 years, which is a Westminster government holding up the government in Wales, making it more difficult.

"My mindset is to make it better and easier to deliver in Wales.

"There are obviously money issues, but it's not just about money: it's about investors having the confidence."

Responding to Sir Keir denying giving “false hope” to Port Talbot steelworkers, Welsh Conservatives leader Andrew RT Davies MS said: "The Labour government must not let our steel communities down.

"We were told by Labour that a new deal could be done for Welsh steel, and people across Wales now expect to see a deal done to save steel jobs.

"We urge the government not to backtrack, but to secure a deal that will deliver for our steel communities.

"The Labour UK Government still hasn’t guaranteed they will offer the full transition fund promised by the last government.

"It’s vital that this support is in place."

Plaid Cymru's MP for Caerfyrddin, Ann Davies, said: "It is incredibly disappointing to see Eluned Morgan failing to stand up for Welsh interests by not pressing Keir Starmer to devolve the Crown Estate.

"Devolution would give us the powers we need to set the terms of renewable energy developments, and ensure that the profits from our natural resources stay here in Wales.

"The Labour Welsh Government has previously said that the Crown Estate in Wales should be devolved, in line with the position in Scotland. Today was an opportunity for the new first minister to finally raise this pressing need with Keir Starmer.

"Her failure to do so will mean that profits from investments made by GB Energy and Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru will continue to leave Wales for the Treasury and the Monarch.

"This is money which should be kept and reinvested here in Wales to address the high levels of poverty and inequality facing our communities, and bring down our energy bills. It appears that Labour’s energy plans will ring hollow for ordinary people in Wales."

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