Of Silk and Steel

Tensile yield strength of structural ASTM A36 steel: 250 MPa

Tensile yield strength of silkworm silk: 500 MPa

If Wales had a direct relationship with Europe as an independent country, rather than relying on the intercession of Westminster, would its steel industry now be facing extinction with the closure of Port Talbot?

The context for this question is the fact that Westminster represents first and foremost the interests of the City of London in any discussions. The City has very little interest in the Welsh steel industry. However it has a keen interest in securing a role as the principal financial centre in Europe for investments and transactions related to the "New Silk Road" project.

The New Silk Road is a Chinese initiative announced in 2013 which aims to promote trade along land and maritime corridors from China to Europe. Close to one trillion dollars is due to be invested in infrastructure to support these routes which will transmit up to one third of global GDP. New Chinese cities, each with inhabitants as numerous as the entire population of Wales, are being developed around manufacturing, warehousing and logistics facilities associated with developments along this trade route. One of the key objectives of the New Silk Road is the export of Chinese over-capacity in areas such as steel production.

And that is where the fate of Port Talbot comes in. Westminster has routinely acted to appease the Chinese in order to protect the status of the City. For example, many government decisions related to the proposed Hinkley C nuclear power plant only make sense in the context of how this is being financed by the Chinese. And Westminster has blocked European efforts to protect the steel industry from cheap Chinese imports for similar reasons.

The interests of the City override all other considerations and distort UK Government policy until it is unrecognisable as a sensible response to circumstances arising anywhere else in the country. The relationship between elites in London and Beijing takes precedence over the relationship between the government and the people on whose behalf they are supposed to act.

And as globalisation enhances one set of 21st Century connections between a constellation of democratically unaccountable global financial centres, it disconnects the rest of us and leaves us in medieval darkness.