Prime Minister Andy Burnham's first official visit to Wales was marked by a feelgood atmosphere and smiling faces, but offered little in the way of concrete detail. The whistle-stop tour of the Tata Steelworks in Port Talbot on Thursday was described by Burnham himself as a symbolic choice of location.
Asked about his previously stated commitments to green energy and jobs, the Prime Minister said it was "no accident" that he was at Tata to meet apprentices and workers from south Wales. His visit, he said, signalled his support for green energy and the green "re-industrialisation" of Wales.
Green steel transition and job losses
Tata Steel is in the process of moving the Port Talbot site to greener steelmaking by replacing its traditional blast furnaces with a £1.25bn electric arc furnace, backed by a £500m UK government grant. Many people in Wales, especially those in Port Talbot, will not have forgotten the 2,500 jobs lost when the furnaces were shut down in 2024. Now there are delays getting the arc furnace up and running, thanks to issues with electrical grid connectivity.
Burnham did not dwell on these issues. Accompanied on the visit by Secretary of State for Wales, Stephen Kinnock, he was on message and keeping positive after public fatigue at his predecessor's seemingly endless gloom.
Positive messages on energy and devolution
The message he wanted to send was that there was "a huge prize for Wales" through green steel production and that his visit was "a big statement from me". On green wind energy, he was effusive: "It is amazing for Wales, the potential for offshore wind."
He emphasised his commitment to tackling climate change and gave positive, if non-committal, answers to almost every tricky question on devolution thrown his way by the waiting pack of reporters. On devolving the Crown Estate, he promised to give First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth "a fair hearing". On devolving policing, it is an issue he was "prepared to look at".
Personal connections and quick departure
Speaking to the apprentices, the Prime Minister's conversation went at pace with lots of laughter and smiles and even a brief mention of Neath Rugby Club. There is no doubting that Andy Burnham has the communication skills and social ease that Keir Starmer, who he ousted, lacked.
The new Prime Minister stressed his personal and family connections with Wales, describing the north as a "lovely part of the world" that he knew from growing up in the north of England. He said he had got to know the south a bit better since his daughter attended and graduated from Cardiff University. This has also given him some less enjoyable insights into the state of Wales' rail infrastructure, he admitted, saying his family had plenty of experience of train delays and he accepted something needed to be done.
He promised help is on the way to address the cost of living and praised the army for its response helping Welsh fire crews. And then he was gone, off to Belfast on his summer "listening" tour around the UK. One thing is certain, it may be a honeymoon for now, but his job is going to get harder, especially as the budget date looms.
