It’s deeply worrying that Port Talbot is in the top 100 towns identified in research by the Centre For Towns and the University of Southampton as being most economically at risk from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Wales is likely to be the worst affected region in the United Kingdom.

We need a post-pandemic recovery which boosts the whole UK economy, including the areas that will suffer most like the many industrial towns in Wales. We need a recovery based on inclusive growth, not growing inequality.

I was therefore pleased to co-sign this important letter from Nick Smith MP to the UK Government on protecting the Welsh economy following the Covid-19 pandemic: