DAVID CAMERON will feel the heat over his refusal to recall Parliament today as the Welsh Assembly reconvenes to tackle the steel crisis.

Assembly members will meet in Cardiff this afternoon amid efforts to save Britain’s biggest steelworks at Port Talbot and the livelihoods of its 4,000 workers.

Yet the situation will not be discussed in Westminster for at least another week unless the Prime Minister cuts short the Easter recess due to end on April 11.

Writing exclusively in the Morning Star, shadow Welsh secretary Nia Griffith says that Tory ministers have displayed a mixture of “incompetence” and “indifference” in their response.

Mr Cameron was on holiday in Lanzarote when Tata announced its plans to sell its British plants, while Business Secretary Sajid Javid had taken his teenage daughter on an official visit to Australia.

Ms Griffith says it is unlikely that either would have cut their trips short to deal with the crisis without the outpouring of public support for a petition calling for “immediate action to protect the steel industry” and the recall of Parliament.

Support for the petition — instigated by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn — has now soared past 145,000, far exceeding the figure required for a parliamentary debate.

And Ms Griffith says it is time Mr Cameron hauled MPs back to Westminster to deal with the situation facing steelworkers.

“If the Welsh government can bring back AMs as it makes a significant pledge from its budget, why can’t Cameron get MPs back from holidays?” she asked.

“Do 40,000 immediate job losses [across Britain], costs of £2.5m a day and the imminent end of steelmaking in the UK, with unquantifiable knock-on effects for downstream businesses and a drop in our export capacity mean nothing to the Prime Minister? Clearly not.”

A protest will take place in front of the Welsh Assembly to call for the nationalisation of Tata Steel’s British operations ahead of this afternoon’s debate.

Busloads of steelworkers from Port Talbot and their families will travel to Cardiff to take part before watching the debate about their future.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood told the Star: “Now is the time for decisive action and it’s good that the assembly is being recalled today to discuss a way forward.

“As we have done for many months, Plaid Cymru will be urging the Welsh government to intervene — to take ownership or part ownership through a joint venture with Tata to give the industry a fighting chance of survival.

“If parties in Wales can come together to seek a solution to this crisis then there is no reason why parties in Westminster cannot do the same.”

Some 200 people marched through Port Talbot on Saturday, many holding placards reading: “Nationalise Tata now.”