Walked for gordon brown, we talked about future generations as if they were other people who had not been born. This isnt about future generations it is about our kids and grandchildren. Somebody who has kids in the 20s, this is about the rest of their lives. 2050, they will be my age, a bit less. This is about people we know, people we love and the future that they are going to live in. That has added an urgency. The kids demonstrating last friday and over the weekend, they are future voters, they are talking to the parents, telling the parents that you have got to do something about this. That has affected the cop and it will only affect them further into the future, as those voters become, as those kids become voters and some become politicians. We have left it too late, but that is what this has to be, some kind of a Turning Point where the politicians in power recognise it is the next generation of macro lives at stake. L it is the next generation of macro lives at stake. I have d
is to close blast furnaces in port talbot with 3,000 jobs to go. the union plan to savejobs has failed. so what does it say more generally about the green transition? also in the programme. a walk out in northern ireland. no government, no funding, no pay rises. is the standoff over stormont now a constiutional crisis. a constiutional crisis? and is it the demand for cocaine europe that has turned ecuador into a war zone with the drug cartels? is there a future for steel making in the uk? and if there is then what sort of sector does it become. that very issue has been under discussion today between unions representing the steel workers of south wales and the bosses of the tata steel making company. no official word of what has been agreed but we understand tata steel is to close both blast furnaces at its port talbot works with the loss of up to 3,000 jobs. instead of blast furnaces, tata have a plan backed by the british government to invest in a new, greener, electric ar
could be removing them. hello, i m ben thompson. welcome to the programme. within the last hour, indian company tata steel has confirmed plans to close blast furnaces at its plant in port talbot, south wales, with the loss of up to 2,800 jobs. tata said in a statement: tata steel today announced it will commence statutory consultation as part of its plan to transform and restructure its uk business. this plan is intended to reverse more than a decade of losses and transition from the legacy blast furnaces to a more sustainable, green steel business. following the confirmation, the general secretary of steelworkers union community, says tata s announcement is unacceptable and claims the uk s primary but a uk government spokesperson has said they are determined to secure the future of the uk steel industry. uk prime minister rishi sunak has been asked about this lets listen to what he had to say. well, i know first of all that it will be a worrying time for everyone af
to shut down the blast furnaces at port talbot. frustration, disappointment is probably the biggest word. disbelief. it sjust been. handled absolutely appallingly in my opinion. also coming up: are pre election handouts ahead? taxes in his march budget. when i look around the world to america and asia, when i look around the world to america iwith sia, when i look around the world to america iwith lower when i look around the world to america i with lower taxes countries with lower taxes have more dynamic, faster growing economies. that s and a sweet business that ran out ofjuice. we look at the rise and fall of the original indian steel giant tata is expected to confirm up to 3,000 jobs will be cut from its british operations. the bbc understands tata is to go ahead with plans to shut down both blast furnaces at its port talbot site in south wales which is the uk s biggest steel plant. the company is intending to replace the furnaces with an electric version which is more
but will instead use a greener electric arc furnace, which requires fewer staff to operate. the switch will be assisted by £500m of government funding pledged last september. the firstjob losses are likely to begin in april, with most expected to be cut by september. 0ur reporter lucy vladev has more. after years of questions about the future of steel making, the answers being provided for workers here are about as bad as they get. both blast furnaces in port talbot will close, as part of major changes to the way tata produces steel. jobs will go across the uk, but south wales will be hardest hit. the news will be officially announced this morning and unions say they ll fight for every job. gmb and the other trade unions will be using all tools at our disposal to make sure we re safeguarding steel making and the jobs that that supports within the area. we want to ensure that any transitionary money that s been promised there s £100 million promised to the transition board