Port Talbot management 'in steelworks takeover bid'

Welsh secretary Alun Cairns will be making a visit to Tata's plant in Shotton, which currently employs 650 people.

His visit comes exactly a week after the company was officially put up for sale by its Indian owners, who have five sites in Wales.

The Business Secretary Sajid Javid will also be holding talks in Brussels today with ministers from China, India and 27 other nations.

The UK Government say they are ready to co-invest with any potential new owner of Tata Steelworks to save thousands of Welsh jobs.

The Business Secretary will join ministers from around the world at a meeting in Brussels to discuss the current steel crisis.

• First Minister backs 'co-investment solution'

Sajid Javid will hold talks with counterparts from China, India and 27 other nations to "seek solutions to the overcapacity crisis".

Tata Steel announced it was putting its UK assets up for sale, including its biggest plant in Port Talbot.

As a result thousands of jobs at sites across South Wales are at risk, with thousands more in the supply chain threatened.

The UK Government has come under pressure to find a solution but say they are ready to co-invest with any potential new owner of Tata Steelworks

Business Secretary Sajid Javid described the global steel crisis as a "human tragedy", saying the Government was "deeply concerned" with the UK situation.

But speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Javid said that the Government had left "no stone unturned" in its attempts to sell British steel.

He added that the Conservatives were taking "real action" to support the UK industry.

Steelmakers have been paid £76 million already to compensate for energy bills, a figure expected to rise to £100 million by the end of 2016.

Meanwhile, energy intensive industries will be exempted from future renewable policy costs, saving the steel industry over £400 million, Javid said.

He added that the Government's willingness to "co-invest" in Tata Steel with a commercial partner was evidence of its commitment to save the industry.

The Conservatives have been accused of "indifference and incompetence" in dealing with the UK steel crisis.

Shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said on Tuesday the situation facing the UK steel industry "cannot be categorised as anything but an emergency".

Her comments came a day after Tata Steel began the formal process of selling its Port Talbot plant, with thousands of jobs on the line.

Yesterday Business Secretary Sajid Javid said the Government would be willing to consider "co-investing" with potential buyers.

Ms Eagle said whether this amounted to nationalisation or not, the Tories "should spare their ideological blushes and just get on with it".

She also accused the Government of an "ideologically driven reluctance to get involved as the crisis has deepened", and invited it to come up with a comprehensive plan to save the industry.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have discussed the "pressures facing steel manufacturers in the UK and India" with the Indian Prime Minister, during their tour of the country.

William and Kate talked about the steel crisis during a lunch meeting with Narendra Modi, sources told the Press Association.

The couple are on their third day of a week-long tour of India and Bhutan.

There will be a debate in the Commons today on the steel crisis. The Speaker, John Bercow, granted Labour's request for a three-hour emergency debate on the UK steel industry.

• UK Government may 'co-invest' to save Port Talbot steelworks

Meanwhile, the Business Minister, Anna Soubry MP, will be questioned by Welsh MPs about the UK Government's response to the crisis:

Wales' First Minister Carwyn Jones has backed the UK Business Secretary's announcement that the government are ready to co-invest with any potential new owner of Tata Steelworks.

Steel unions have said that they are 'encouraged' by the UK Government announcement that they are ready to 'co-invest' with any potential new owner of Tata Steelworks.