FIRST Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones said yesterday that Tata steel plants across Britain should be taken into public ownership if no private buyer is found.

Mr Jones, who is Labour’s highest elected office holder, made the call in a statement to an emergency session of the Welsh Assembly to deal with the steel crisis.

As steelworkers rallied outside the Assembly, he said: “I have one simple message for the people of Wales and the UK government: These plants cannot close.”