UKIP Wales Leader Nathan Gill MEP calls Carwyn Jones ‘delusional’ on EU involvement in Welsh steel industry collapse
Leader of UKIP in Wales, Nathan Gill MEP, has slammed Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones’ denial of EU involvement in the devastation of the steel industry, in a debate with Nigel Farage last night.
“I was agog to hear Carwyn Jones’ complete refusal to accept the pernicious influence of the EU across all of the factors that have led to the collapse of the steel industry in Wales. At the UK Steel Summit, three key problems facing the industry were identified: high energy costs, the Chinese dumping of cheap steel and restrictions on state aid.
“The EU’s own Industry Commissioner warned EU energy policy was leading to ‘a systemic industrial massacre’. It is also a fact that the UK cannot action moves to prevent Chinese dumping at the World Trade Organisation because we no longer have our own representation on the WTO as an EU member and rely on Brussels instead; and it is also a fact that the extremely strict EU state aid rules mean that, according to Steel Minister Anna Soubry, ‘our hands are tied.’
“It wouldn’t surprise me if the man who has overseen the closure of 8 out of the 9 major metal ore refineries in Wales, while attempting to defend the EU in a debate, should have to lie through his teeth on this subject. But it is surely deeply disappointing to the Welsh people to have to recognise that the First Minister is either delusional, or dishonest.”
