Port Talbot Steel Works - nearly 3000 jobs gone and how it's being reported

[LookItsMeAgain]

Do you know why the steel works (the biggest employer in Port Talbot in Wales) is closing down?
It has absolutely nothing to do with Tata Steel trying to go green as is being reported in the media at the moment.

It has everything to do with being a victim of Brexit and higher costs.
They simply couldn't afford to keep the steel works open after Brexit and the UK Government was doing nothing to save the steel plant.

A town that relied on this as their primary employer is now decimated and more than likely, will become a ghost town in the coming years as there won't be anything in the place to keep future generations employed and willing to stay there.

The former Welsh First Minister gave an interview to an independent journalist (no other news outlets contacted him for comment) and his comments are eye opening:
V

This is not a Leave/Remain discussion (that has been done to death), more a point around how news stories get reported in the mainstream media as these are the headlines that are in the main newspapers and it reads as though the plant was spewing out millions of tonnes of toxic waste and the only way to fix that was to close it down:
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/live-updates-port-talbot-steelworkers-28467371
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/19/port-talbot-steelworks-blast-furnaces-to-close-costing-almost-3000-jobs-tata
https://time.com/6564363/tata-steel-port-talbot-wales-job-cuts/

I know this is talking about a steel works plant, but if the maintstream media could be so far off the mark on this story and not have done their homework on it, what with this being a HUGE year for elections all over the globe, what else would they put a spin on? Should we hold our journalists to a higher standard? Should they be expected to do more research into their stories before publishing them (on whatever media they choose)?

[PocketSand]

Without a comparison (which maybe journalists should do at the time) of the 'green' credentials of Port Talbot and EU plants it's hard to determine the impact of Brexit. So it's not surprising that MM go with the official account and ignore what is seen to be a lone voice.

But sometimes the lone voice is right (see PO scandal).

Campaigning journalism is brilliant after the fact. I'm afraid nothing will stop the closure and resultant devastation to a community even if the underlying rationale is untrue.

[MrsBennetsPoorNerves]

Interesting.

The people of Port Talbot voted for Brexit though, so if that's the cause for the closure, they only have themselves to blame. (I'm very sorry for those who are losing their jobs and voted Remain, of course!)

[Deathbyathousandcats]

This is a proper catastrophe for Port Talbot, and South Wales in general.

[PurpleBrain]

I noticed none of the current workers voiced an opinion on the news . Were they told not to speak to the press / media ?

[sparklefart]

Years ago when Burberry closed their factory in South Wales the spin they put on it was they were losing money so had to go abroad, no choice. They weren't losing money they were very profitable but they could make 2 million more. How to lie with statistics!

[ScierraDoll]

Absolute shite. Tata steel have been trying to shut this plant for years. Pre brexit Tata announced it was closing because "Europe was being flooded with cheap Chinese steel" note the word Europe. Then it emerges that Tata were in discussions with Thysson Krupps (a large German steel manufacturer) to merge. Part of the deal was that Tata would shut down its UK operations. The merger never went ahead but Tata have wanted to close this plant for years. It has fuck all to do with Brexit. In any event had we stayed in the EU it would have closed anyway as the EU economic plan is that Germany makes stuff, France grows stuff and the UK provides financial services

[shearwater2]

It is not closing, it is switching to electric arc technology to produce steel, which requires fewer staff. The blast furnace is being decommissioned. the company (and British Steel) have invested billions to do this, matched by half a billion investment from the government as even they realise how important this is.

This is due to steel being required to be produce sustainably, not due to Brexit or Tata being run by evil villains. Steel produced in a blast furnace is made from heating coal and iron ore. Electric arc uses scrap steel only so it is recycled.

There is no sustainable steel currently being made in this country, it's all blast furnace.

Clients all want sustainably produced steel to meet carbon targets, hence it is being imported from overseas at the moment- hardly good for Port Talbot either. If it carried on as is there would be no-one wanting the steel and it would shut down anyway.

Plus there is also a security angle - we need to produce steel in this country not rely on importing it from elsewhere with global supply chains being affected by war and terrorism.

I was and am totally anti-Brexit but you have the facts totally wrong on this story.