Labor trade chief visits world's biggest steelworks as he pledges to disrupt the UK

Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade Nick Thomas-Symonds wants to learn from Joe Biden's 'worker-centric trade policy' as he shapes Labor's plans for government

Nick Thomas-Symonds meets with Maryland Governor Wes Moore in Baltimore (

Image: @NickTorfaen/Twitter)

Labour's trade chief visited what visited the world's largest steel mill as part of a fact-finding mission to the United States.

Shadow International Trade Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds wants to learn from Joe Biden's 'worker-centric trade policy' as he shapes Labor's plans for government.

The party hopes to transform the UK's polluting industrial heartlands and make them a key part of its green energy commitment. As part of his trip to America, the frontbencher visited Sparrows Point in Baltimore.

Named after landowner Thomas Sparrow, Sparrows Point was the site of a huge, sprawling industrial complex that produced its first steel in 1889.

In the mid-20th century, the factory was the largest steel mill in the world, spanning four miles from end to end and employing 30,000 workers. In 1961, it produced 672,000 short tons of steel per year.

But changes in the steel industry led to a decline in his fortunes in the 1970s and 1980s, just like in Britain. It closed permanently in 2012.

But it now produces wind turbines for the offshore energy industry. The Mirror told earlier this year how Britain's biggest steelworks, Tata's Port Talbot plant, wants to produce huge wind turbines as part of the Celtic Freeport plan backed by the UK and Welsh governments. p>

Mr. Thomas-Symonds, MP for Torfaen, South Wales, said: "I am in the United States to see their 'worker centered trade policy' in action and to see how we can work together to raise standards .< /p>

"The United States is showing that involving workers and businesses in trade negotiations can help create good jobs and help the economy grow; that's what we want to deliver here in the Kingdom. -Uni.

"Labour will put workers and jobs at the heart of trade policy.

“A Labor Government is committed to creating a new wave of quality jobs, with high standards, living wages and union recognition as part of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower ."