Nigel Farage’s plans for steel in Wales could result in the cancelling of 5,000 jobs, the prime minister has claimed.

Sir Keir Starmer used his speech at Welsh Labour conference on Saturday to attack the Reform UK leader.

He accused Reform of “sucking up” to Russian president Vladimir Putin and claimed the party leader was not really interested in Wales.

Reform is hoping to enter the Senedd for the first time at the election in May 2026 and has done well in recent opinion polls, some of which put Labour in third place.

Meanwhile Sir Keir played down divisions within his party after weeks of public criticism of him from Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan.

He told BBC Wales the first minister was “right to raise concerns” and promised to “deliver on those as far as we can”.

In his conference speech in Llandudno, Conwy county, Sir Keir alleged Plaid Cymru would be willing to form a “backroom stitch-up” with Reform and the Tories after the next election.

Plaid, which has strongly ruled out working with Reform in any form, accused Sir Keir of “peddling fiction”.

Meanwhile, a pro-Palestinian demonstration took place outside the venue, attended by two elected Labour politicians.

On a visit to Port Talbot earlier in June, Farage said he would like to see a return of the now-closed blast furnaces.

Sir Keir told the conference: “Reform claimed to be the party of patriotism while sucking up to Putin and abusing our armed forces online.

“They say they’re the party of workers while they vote against workers’ rights.

“Nigel Farage isn’t interested in Wales. He’s interested in Nigel Farage and he takes people for fools.”

“Just look what he said earlier this month, going to Port Talbot, pretending he’s got a plan to reopen a blast furnace when he’s got no idea what he’s talking about.

“He’s got no plan at all.”

He said Reform’s proposals would involve scrapping the electric arc furnace, which would be “cancelling the construction work that’s on track to start in just a few weeks’ time. Cancelling 5,000 jobs it will bring”.

He added: “That’s tells you everything you need to know about Reform.”

Port Talbot closed its blast furnaces last year and plans to replace them with an electric arc, which is set to begin operating at the end of 2027.

The plan aims to make steel in a greener way by using electricity rather than coal, but is controversial as it requires scrap rather than making virgin steel.

Reform said Sir Keir’s comments were “desperation”.

Sir Keir told the conference that the UK was in a “more dangerous world” and he had committed to defence spending of 5% of GDP that would “keep Wales safe” and ensure investment in jobs in the country.

Sir Keir appeared to refer to the concessions he made to a rebellion against his disability reforms, saying changes had to be done in a “Labour way” and protect “those who need it most”.

But, he added: “Everyone agrees that our welfare system is broken [and] failing people every day.

“A generation of young people written off for good and costs spiralling out of control.”

The prime minister praised Morgan, following weeks of criticism of his UK government from the first minister.

He called her a “fierce champion for Wales, a fantastic first minister, putting our heart and soul into delivering for this county, and the best person to lead Wales into the future”.

In May, Morgan used an event in Cardiff Bay’s Norwegian Church to set out a series of criticisms and demands of the UK government.

Dubbed her “Red Welsh Way”, Morgan said she would “not stay silent” if Sir Keir’s government took decisions “we think will harm Welsh communities”.

The UK government has since U-turned on both winter fuel payments and disability benefits – the latter after a huge rebellion threatened Sir Keir’s government.

Speaking at a visit to RAF Valley on Anglesey, Sir Keir said the Westminster and Welsh governments “work very well together”.

He said the UK government had given Welsh ministers their largest financial settlement since devolution began.

Sir Keir said there was a “good relationship” and argued the spending review – which saw £445m for rail, including new stations and £118m for coal tip safety, showed there was “a lot of really important delivery for Wales”.

Sir Keir made the case that having two Labour governments in London and Cardiff is delivering for Wales.

He warned abandoning Labour could risk a “return to the chaos and division of the last decade” with a “backroom stitch-up between the Tories, Reform and Plaid”.

Plaid Cymru has firmly ruled out working with Reform UK, with leader Rhun ap Iorwerth saying in March there was “no way to see any co-operation at all between two parties who are so fundamentally different”.

He also told PA Media in May he could not see a “formal relationship” with the Conservatives “after 14 years of destruction”.

But he said “co-operation can take many, many forms. It can be informal. It can be issue by issue”.

The next Senedd election will see the partial-first past the post and proportional voting system used since 1999 replaced.

It will make it very hard for any party to win a majority or govern alone and parties will face questions about who they may be prepared to work with.

In response to Sir Keir, Plaid Cymru said: “If this is Labour’s big pitch to the people of Wales, then frankly, they’re scraping the barrel.

“Instead of offering hope, they’re peddling fiction about imaginary coalitions involving parties that agree on virtually nothing.”

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar has said he would work with “anybody” to unseat the Welsh Labour government.

He added: “It is in the national interest to kick Labour out of office so we can get to grips with these challenges and fix Wales.”

In her conference speech, First Minister Morgan will say the next Senedd election will be a “moment of reckoning”.

In a bid to rally the party’s membership, Morgan will say: “Reform are rising. Plaid are mobilising.

“This is not a moment to look away. This is the moment to look forward – a moment of maximum opportunity and, yes, also of serious threat.”

Meanwhile Jo Stevens, Welsh Secretary, announced a £11m fund for businesses in Port Talbot.

It includes £6.78m from the UK government and £5m from Tata Steel and will support firms that offer skilled, well-paid employment opportunities.

She said Plaid and Reform were “two sides of the same coin”.

Both, she said, were “divisive nationalists determined to rip our country apart. One has got no plan to pay for the NHS, and another one has got plans to sell it off to the highest bidder.”

A pro-Palestinian demonstration was held outside the conference, attended by two Welsh Labour politicians.

Both Steve Witherden and Newport East Member of the Senedd (MS) John Griffiths accused Israel of genocide in Gaza – a claim that Israel firmly denies.

Witherden, MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, called for all arms sales to Israel to stop.

A small counter pro-Israeli demonstration took place opposite, with a row of police officers separating the two groups.

Walk into Venue Cymru in Llandudno and there’s a large red banner that adorns the front of the venue that takes you aback.

“The Red Welsh Way”.

It is a reference to a speech made by Eluned Morgan just a few months ago and is significant because it was a full-on attack on the UK government of Sir Keir Starmer.

It demonstrates more than anything the duality of Labour in Wales right now – a party which had a colossal success at the general election last year, which saw the wipeout of the Welsh Tories at Westminster level, which is now in the Senedd trying to distance itself from some of the decisions being made.

The party has a high-wire balancing act to do – to try to show it is united and what the benefits are of having a Labour government at both ends of the M4.

Senior figures are trying to explain away the obvious tensions as nothing out of the ordinary – the question is whether voters next year will agree.