Farage says Reform would try to reopen Port Talbot blast furnaces

Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage has said his party would like to reopen the blast furnaces in Port Talbot should it come to power.

During a visit to the town, Farage said his party wanted to see Wales "reindustrialise to prosper and grow".

But he admitted it would not be an "easy" thing to reopen the furnaces, which closed last year, and would cost billions.

An industry source told BBC Wales doing so would be impossible with the structures containing hundreds of tonnes of solidified molten iron.

Traditional steelmaking ended in Port Talbot last year as part of a plan to eventually move to greener electric arc.

Its operator Tata said it had been losing £1m a day.

Challenged at a press conference how it would be achieved if he won a Senedd election, Farage told a press conference it was an "ambition" the party has and that it would need UK government support.

Reopening the blast furnaces would require major investment from the public or private sector.

Farage is hoping Reform can come first at the Senedd elections in 2026 but it would be highly difficult on existing budgets for the Welsh government to find the money without UK government support.

Writing for WalesOnline, Farage said his party "unashamedly wants to see Wales reindustrialise to prosper and grow".

"We have said and say again that we think it's better to use British coal for British steel than imported coal.

"Which is why we would allow coal, if suitable, to be mined in Wales as part of Reform's long-term ambition to reopen the Port Talbot steelworks but we know this will not be quick or easy."

At the press conference Farage acknowledged that it would "cost in the low billions" to reopen the blast furnaces, and that "private business partners" would be needed to make it work.

"Reopening a blast furnace is not an easy thing," he said.

"We have to do everything we can to try to start thinking about being more self-sufficient."

Asked how a Welsh government could afford re-starting the blast furnaces, Farage said: "I've framed all of this very carefully into saying, not we will do this once we are in control in Cardiff - this will be our ambition.

"We need the Westminster government to approve that as well. Who knows, that might be us in time."

"What's the cost of all these people out of work?"

Farage added that he was "not forcing people down pits" to mine for coal.

A steel industry source told BBC Wales that re-opening the blast furnaces would be "impossible" and said the current structures contain over 300 tonnes of solidified molten iron.

The source said the infrastructure at the Port Talbot plant was "beyond recovery" and that if somebody wanted to use blast furnace technology they would need to build a brand new steelworks at a cost of around £3bn.

The source also said customers were demanding greener, rather than carbon-intensive steel.

Asked whether in reality the furnace would need to be rebuilt, Farage said: "Nothing is impossible, but it might be difficult, it might be easier to build a new one."

He said he didn't believe the electric arc furnace would "ever be switched on".

Tata plans to have the furnace operational by 2028.

He said it would use "vast amounts of electricity" with what are "the most expensive industrial electricity prices in the world".

Pressed on what his evidence was, he added: "I hope I'm wrong".

Farage said his campaign for the Senedd "starts in earnest today", saying the party was looking for 96 candidates to stand.

"Our aim is to win, our aim is to win a majority and our aim as a party is to govern in Wales," he said.

No party has ever won a majority in Cardiff Bay since devolution began in 1999.

Recent polling has put reform second, either behind Labour or, most recently, Plaid Cymru.

Farage also announced that two independent councillors from Merthyr Tydfil, Andrew Barry and David Hughes, had joined Reform.

The Welsh Conservatives' Senedd leader Darren Millar said: "Nigel Farage's empty and uncosted promises are nothing more than a mirage.

"The people of Port Talbot won't be taken for fools."

Heledd Fychan, of Plaid Cymru, said: "Today, Reform have shown us what they offer Wales, empty headlines and nonsensical policies.

"Farage has parachuted himself into a community recently devastated by UK government inaction, and is taking advantage of the loss by claiming to reopen the blast furnaces, something the industry have already told us is impossible."

Additional reporting by Gareth Lewis