We cannot watch investment vanish

FAMILIES throughout South Wales will fear for the future with the Ford plant at Bridgend expected to bear the brunt of 1,150 job losses in Europe.

The prospect of losing well-paid and highly skilled positions will cast a dark cloud over the region just as the nation confronts the threat of a major economic disappointment.

There is deep concern at reports that Hitachi is poised to pull the plug on Anglesey’s multi-billion pound Wylfa Newydd nuclear power project.

Anglesey already faces an uncertain economic future following the closure of important employers including the previous power station and a major aluminium facility, and people whose livelihoods depend on the port are waiting to see how Holyhead will be affected by Brexit.

The plans for a new nuclear plant were not without controversy but the prospect of huge investment and a massive construction project had promised to lift the economy and provide long-term employment.

In south Wales, the loss of around 1,000 jobs at the Ford site, despite efforts to secure a viable future for this centre of manufacturing, will send a chill through the entire region. There are bound to be knock-on effects for the supply chain, and there are already intense and utterly valid concerns about how the automotive sector will be affected by Brexit.

Wales can no longer be marketed as an entry point to the European Union; we face intense competition for investment with manufacturing operations throughout the rest of the world. Wales needs to urgently develop competitive advantages if the economy is not to suffer successive hammer blows.

We have some excellent universities but our children have poorer skills than counterparts in other parts of the UK; institutions in eastern Europe, China and India are pumping out graduates with the competencies that major companies demand.

Our transport and communications infrastructure remains woeful in too many areas, as anyone who has been trapped in gridlock in the M4 or unable to get a mobile signal can testify. Brexit, a constitutional choice backed by the majority of Welsh voters, may present opportunities as well as challenges but governments in London and Cardiff need to recognise that without major structural improvements it will get harder to keep businesses in Wales alive.