Consider ‘all the options’ to save Liberty Steel jobs, says Ed Miliband
The government should look at “all the options” when it comes to saving jobs at Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel, shadow business secretary Ed Miliband has said.
Speaking to the BBC, the former Labour leader said that the jobs under threat were “crucial for communities up and down the country”.
About 5,000 jobs are understood to be at risk at GFG Alliance-owned Liberty Steel, which saw its main financier Greensill Capital collapse last week.
Gupta has told trade unions that the group has “adequate funding”, but is seeking alternative financing from new sources.
Miliband added that Liberty Steel, which owns 12 steelworks across the UK, was a key part of the country’s critical national infrastructure.
“Let’s hope that Liberty steel can find that the refinancing that it’s looking for but the government needs a plan B to make sure whatever happens, these jobs are saved”, he said.
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“Nothing should be off the table. In different ways in the past the government has stepped in with loans and indemnities, so we should look at all the options.”
Miliband’s opposite number Kwasi Kwarteng told the Times that it was possible that the government could take steps to intervene in the crisis.
“We have done in the past. I think Liberty Steel is consonant with our decarbonisation agenda. I think it’s a fundamentally good product. I can’t anticipate or guarantee forms of intervention.
“The management has their own plan as well and I’ve got to see how that works out.”
Kwarteng has met with executives at Liberty Steel and trade unions.