Handling of factory saga ‘was chaotic’
THE “chaotic” way the UK Government decided to block the sale of a factory in South Wales to a Chinese-owned company has left workers facing great uncertainty, Labour has said.
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he welcomed the fact that a decision has been made on semiconductor factory Newport Wafer Fab, but criticised what he described as a 16-month process and a lack of overall strategy.
Labour MP for Newport West, Ruth Jones, said workers had “the most unacceptable shock and worry heaped on them by this Government”, and all in the run-up to Christmas.
Business Secretary Grant Shapps acknowledged it was a “concerning time for 500 or so employees” at the factory, but said he had acted on information he could not publish in order to take the “national security decision”.
He defended the timing, saying the relevant legislation “only came into existence this January”, and added “to say there has been 16 months during which we have not made any decisions is simply untrue”.
The company is one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of semiconductors and there was concern over its reported £63m purchase by Nexperia, a company said to be linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
In July 2021, Nexperia bought a further 86% of shares in Newport Wafer Fab, taking its total shareholding to 100%.
Asking an urgent question in the Commons, Ms Jones said: “Nearly 600 people with just one month to Christmas have had the most unacceptable shock and worry heaped on them by this Government.
We have heard so much about a commitment to levelling up, but this decision made by Tory ministers is a disgraceful exercise in levelling down Newport West and South Wales.”
She added: “I am concerned that ministers have chosen not to listen to my constituents and instead taken a decision that now puts their livelihoods and their families, as well as more than £100m of taxpayers’ money, completely and unnecessarily at risk.”
Ms Jones also called on ministers to publish the security assessment which led to the decision, and to disclose what discussions Mr Shapps has had with the Welsh Government and Newport City Council about support to “mitigate the impact of this decision on our local economy”.
Mr Shapps responded: “She is not privy to the information that I have had to weigh up in order to come to this national security decision, which I have done with the utmost diligence and taken all of the factors into account.
“Nor can I, I am afraid, accede to her request to publish that information.”
Mr Shapps had earlier told the Commons he was “unable to go into further detail about the national security assessments and implications which have formed this decision”.
But he did summarise a final order made to Nexperia, telling MPs: “What I can say is the final order requires Nexperia to follow a set process leading to divestment within a specified period.”