WELSH steelworkers are marching to Parliament on Wednesday to demand Westminster action as union figures show more than 18,000 jobs have been lost in the industry in Wales.

Research by the GMB union found that more than 18,050 Welsh steel jobs have gone between 1981 and 2021 — 60 per cent of the entire sector.

Steelworkers from Port Talbot will join the march from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square, calling for a proper industrial strategy and relief from the energy costs that are crippling the steel sector. 

GMB national officer Charlotte Brumpton-Childs said: “A lack of industrial strategy and no support for energy costs have left the industry at risk of steel dumping from overseas. 

“Wales’s proud steel industry is being allowed to wither and die. 

“We need action now, or the industry as we know it will cease to exist.” 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham will be marching with steel members to warn MPs and ministers that the time for talking is over and action is required to secure the future of Britain’s steel industry.

“From hospitals to defence, it is clear that steel is a critical infrastructure industry and steel must be produced in Britain,” Ms Graham said.

Earlier this week, Unite unveiled billboards and digital adverts in Port Talbot and Scunthorpe as part of its SOS steel emergency campaign to save the towns’ embattled steelworks.

The campaign demands government action to cut energy costs that are twice as high as competitor nations, invest in green technology and that Britain-made steel is used in all public-sector projects.