Forty years on from the miners’ strikes, it’s hard not to conclude that history is in danger of repeating itself.

A UK Government destroying our strategic industries - but this time, it’s our steelworkers on the end of their ill thought out policies.

In the 1980s, a lot of the debate, was also around transitioning to a sustainable future – but instead of adopting that approach, Margaret Thatcher’s Tories waged class war on working class mining communities across South Wales.

The legacy of this brutal decision is one which many of our local communities are still living with today, especially in the Gwent valleys.

If Tata now choose to press ahead with what is on offer from the current UK Government, rather than plan and act on the very different strategy of the Syndex report and an incoming UK Labour government, thousands of jobs will be lost, mainly at Port Talbot, but also several hundred for us here in Newport.

We know that the average age of someone at the Llanwern plant is in their mid-30s – and they should be able to look forward to a career for many years in the steel industry.

This was illustrated in a recent interview by the Argus with Callum Ford – a Newport steelworker, who is only 26 and with a young family. Many of the workforce have mortgages and loved ones to support.

Last Saturday, I joined local steelworkers, trade unionists and the wider community to march through the city centre and finishing at the Westgate Hotel in support of our steel industry.

Next to the Chartist sculpture, were 300 flowers. These each represented an individual worker, who could be among the first to lose their job under the UK Government and Tata’s plans (or lack of).

Like we did 40 years ago, we all know the steel industry needs to transition. But this needs to be done in a way which is fair and timely - not just throwing thousands of jobs onto the scrapheap.

Through their Syndex Report, trade unions have proposed a phased transition over a decade in order to deliver a just transition for the workforce.

This would mean blast furnace production at Port Talbot would continue to run until the end of its life-cycle in 2032, while one small Electric Arc Furnace and later a second EAF or Open Slag Bath Furnace (OSBF) are constructed.

The operations at Port Talbot and Llanwern are both inextricably intertwined. If the current proposals go ahead, this will be bad news for us here in Newport.

We cannot let history repeat itself. Steel is a strategic industry – for the defence of the country, the manufacturing industry, our infrastructure and renewables. That’s why Tata and the UK Government must change their current plans and look again at the Syndex report.