Steel crisis - keep options open, MPs plea

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion was due to meet business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng yesterday to discuss the way forward for Liberty’s owners, the GFG Alliance, after the collapse of their major backers, Greensill.

The rejection has been widely reported but not officially confirmed by the Government, which said it would not comment on individual companies but was “closely monitoring developments”.

Ms Champion, Labour colleagues and trade union leaders have called for the Government to leave all options open including public ownership for keeping Liberty and the UK industry as a whole afloat.

The MP, who said she felt for the 900 steelworkers employed by Liberty’s Rotherham plants, added: “It is deeply disappointing, but not that surprising, that the Government won’t back the bailout of Liberty Steel as I know there are concerns over the financial structure and the tie-in to the Greensill administration.

“However, this is a viable strategic business and we need the Government to be clear that it does support its long term future.

“I will continue to do all I can to protect steel jobs in Rotherham.”

Wentworth & Dearne MP John Healey said: “(Liberty Steel owner) Sanjeev Gupta has pledged to secure fresh financing for Liberty’s steel plants, and he must deliver so Rotherham’s expansion and investment plans can continue.

“But if he fails, the Government cannot stand by. I am looking for assurances from the business secretary that he will stay in close contact with Liberty and that the government recognises the strategic importance of our UK steel industry and is ready to step in to secure its future.”

Mr Kwarteng said on the radio this week that there was concern about the financial structure of India-based GFG, which is owned by the Gupta family.

He called their set-up “very opaque”, adding: “We are custodians of taxpayers’ money, and we feel that if we gave the money, there was no guarantee that the money would stay in the UK, and would protect British jobs.”

Liberty said it planned to restart steelmaking at its plants next week after months of plants being mothballed and workers put on furlough.

Ms Champion said the Government must keep all options on the table for the future of the company and the industry, adding: “To allow the industry to fail would be desperately short-sighted.”

A spokesman for the Unite union said: “No option should be ruled out in protecting the long-term future of Liberty Steel and that must include the option of nationalising the business.”

Mr Kwarteng told BBC Radio that “all options are on the table” to support Liberty, including nationalisation, adding: “We think that the steel industry has a future in the UK.”

A GFG Alliance spokesperson said the corporation had “adequate funding for our current needs” and was seeking to “negotiate a formal standstill agreement with Greensill’s administrators and refinance the businesses”.