UK steelworkers will be joining a huge march through Brussels to demand action to defend their industry today.

Workers from across Europe will take part in the demonstration against a backdrop of continuing uncertainty over the future of Tata plants in the UK.

Unite national officer Harish Patel said that with the UK steel industry “in continued turmoil” and the added uncertainty of Brexit it was “vital that the UK government supports action” to halt the influx of cheap Chinese steel into the UK.

Newport East MP Jessica Morden spoke in Parliament last week saying that the lives of steelworkers in Wales and across the UK are “on hold” until the uncertainty around the future of Tata Steel’s UK plants is resolved.

The industry was thrown into turmoil in March when Tata, which owns plants in Llanwern, Caerphilly, Port Talbot and elsewhere, announced it would sell its entire UK operation.

Now, six months later, the future of the plants remains uncertain, with reports saying the company is in a significantly better financial position than it was earlier in the year.

Speaking during last week’s debate Ms Morden said: “We must never underestimate the effect the continued uncertainty is having on steelworkers and their families.”

Saying she had been emailed by a steelworker who said they and their colleagues “feel forgotten”, she called for more certainty on the future of the plants.

“Many steelworkers feel that their lives are on hold,” she said.

Ms Morden also hit out at Theresa May for not raising the so-called “dumping” of cheap Chinese steel on the UK market when she met with her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in September.

She also called for commitments to be made to use UK-made steel in large infrastructure projects.

Tata, which employs 11,000 people in the UK, has been in talks with German firm ThyssenKrupp over plans to potentially merge their European steel operations.