Nigel Farage has declared that a Reform administration in Cardiff would reopen Welsh coal mines and blast furnaces and “reindustrialise Wales” to boost the British steel industry. The Telegraph has the story.
A Reform administration in Cardiff would be “very, very different indeed” to the current Labour one, Nigel Farage said.
He said that if his party wins power next May it will deliver a “huge cultural change” not only in Welsh politics but across all of Welsh life.
Turning to the steel industry, Mr Farage said Reform’s “ambition is to reindustrialise Wales” because the UK will need a lot of steel in the coming years and he believed it should be made in Britain.
He said Reform would bring back the blast furnaces at Port Talbot and would allow Welsh coal mines to reopen to provide the necessary fuel.
Mr Farage said: “I am not standing here and, no doubt some will lampoon this, I am not saying let’s open up all the pits. What I am saying is there is coal, specific types of coal for certain uses that we still need in this country and we certainly will need for the blast furnaces here that we should produce ourselves rather than importing it.” …
Reopening the steel blast furnaces at Port Talbot would cost “in the low billions”, Nigel Farage said.
Asked if he had priced up his plans, the Reform leader said: “We are going to need cheaper energy, we are going to need much cheaper local coal and we are going to need private business partners prepared to come into a joint venture with government to make it work.
“Yes it is going to cost in the low billions to do it and I am not even pretending it will be easy. But what I am saying is we are going to be using huge amounts of steel over the decades to come. We have to do everything we can to try to start thinking about being more self-sufficient.” …
He declared Reform UK can and will win power at the 2026 Welsh Parliament elections.
He said the party’s campaign “starts in earnest today” and declared: “Our aim is very simple. Our aim is to win. Our aim is to win a majority. And our aim as a party is to govern in Wales.
“And I believe that it is achievable.”
He predicted that Plaid Cymru would only do well in its “heartlands” and said the Tories were “dying” and “pretty close to an extinction event”.
Mr Farage said that Labour “really are failing in Wales” and the party in government had “nowhere to hide”.
He said: “I believe we can win and I believe actually if we get this right we will win next May.” …
Reform is currently polling second in Wales, behind Plaid Cymru, following the collapse of the Labour voter after last year’s election.
Analysis of polling data shows there may be around six Westminster constituencies on the south Wales coast that would fall to Reform if an election was held tomorrow — and all are former Labour heartland seats.
Around 40% of 2024 Labour voters say they will not vote for Sir Keir Starmer’s party in the Senedd elections next year. Of those switchers, most will vote for Plaid Cymru.
Worth reading in full.
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