Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called for the re-opening of coal mines in Wales to help revitalise Britain’s anaemic steel industry in yet another shot across the bow against Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
While the Labour Party once stood in opposition to the shutting down of the coal mines in Britain, which began in earnest under then Tory PM Margaret Thatcher, the left-wing party has since abandoned the issue as it has become increasingly radical on the climate, letting that take primacy over the interests of the labour force.
This has left an opening for Reform UK and Nigel Farage, who told the Daily Mail that he and his party are “serious about reindustrialisation” and that re-opening the coal mines in Wales could help turnaround steel production in the country, such as the Port Talbot steelworks.
Mr Farage argued that the closure of the plant, which resulted in 2,500 jobs being lost, could have been avoided if not for the green agenda and by allowing for the use of British coal, rather than having to import coal to heat the blast furnace from far-away countries like Australia.
“Our long-term aim is to hopefully reopen Port Talbot steelworks – and instead of importing coal for it, use our own,” he told the Mail.
It comes as Reform plans to challenge Labour for control of the locally devolved Senedd parliament in Wales in next year’s local elections. While the left-wing party has controlled the body since it was created by Tony Blair’s government in 1999, Reform is currently polling ahead of Labour.
While Mr Farage was long considered something of a Thatcherite, it is clear he has been on a years-long journey as part of the emergence of new ideas beyond the old left-right. His party has begun to reject strict adherence to laissez-faire economics, recently coming out in favour of the nationalisation of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant after its Chinese owners threatened to close down the plant for good.
Reform has also recently backed reinstating the winter fuel subsidy payments to pensioners and came out in favour of scrapping the cap on child benefits for working class families.
Thus it appears that Mr Farage has taken on board the strategy of allies such as President Donald Trump of using state intervention into the economy, provided that the measures seek to reindustrialise and help family formation, while not being used to the benefit of other countries and foreigners themselves.
Commenting on this shift, former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane told The Gaurdian that “Nigel Farage is as close to what the country has to a tribune for the working classes.”
“I don’t think there’s any politician that comes even remotely close to speaking to, and for, blue-collar, working-class Britain. I think that is just a statement of fact, and in some ways that underscores the importance of the other parties doing somewhat better to find a story, to find a language, and to find some policies that speak to the needs of those most in need.”
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