The UK government’s new business secretary has said “job guarantees” will form part of the negotiations with steel giant Tata about its Port Talbot site.
Jonathan Reynolds said there was “a better deal available” on the future of the plant, but said newer technologies would employ fewer people.
The previous Conservative government agreed a £500m rescue package to help keep the plant open and shift to greener production methods, but 2,800 UK jobs would still be lost.
Mr Reynolds said he and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had already spoken to Tata and were involved in active negotiations over the Port Talbot plant’s future.
“I’m going to make sure that job guarantees are part of the negotiation that we’re having,” he told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
Pressed on whether that meant he could guarantee all jobs, he responded: “Blast furnaces employ more people than some of the newer technologies available.
“So there’s a range of things you have to understand but I absolutely agree with the point that we have to make sure that this is a transition which works for working people and that they’re part of that.”
Tata responded to Labour’s election victory by saying it would “be engaging with new ministers over our ambitious plans to invest in and transform Port Talbot”.
Mr Reynolds said the timescale for the government’s negotiations was “not a large one”.
