Will Tory government provide funds to help German firm buy UK steelworks?
![A potential saviour has emerged for the Port Talbot steel plant [Image: Alamy].](http://voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160403steel.png)
A potential saviour has emerged for the Port Talbot steel plant [Image: Alamy].
One of the saddest aspects of this is the fact that the company pension scheme has become a liability.
Are these schemes more trouble than they’re worth? We’re offered all sorts of incentives to join them and then their value drops, they get raided by the employer, or end up being used by potential buyers as a reason to let the firm fail.
As for “substantial financial support” from the UK government – this is another opportunity for Cameron and his cronies to prove they really couldn’t care less.
They have said they are committed to doing everything they can – but give them a chance to put their money where their mouth is and we can all guess what they’ll do.
A potential saviour for the Port Talbot steel plant has emerged in ThyssenKrupp, the German industrial conglomerate, as Tata Steel claimed it was committed to finding a buyer for its beleaguered UK business rather than closing the sites.
The Observer understands that just three months ago ThyssenKrupp was in talks with Tata about buying Port Talbot and its other UK sites as part of a deal to buy its European business, including its other major steelworks in the Netherlands. However, the German company walked away due to concerns about the losses of the UK business and its pension liabilities of almost £15bn.
A source close to Tata said “they could find a solution” and potentially rescue the deal with the Germans if the UK government provided substantial financial support and the pension scheme, which has 130,000 members, were restructured.
Source: Port Talbot steel plant could be rescued by German company | UK news | The Guardian
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my gp explained to me just how much we are f***ed loads of surgeries closing. every thing being sold off for the rich boys. how about a real vote of no confidence. something everyone can get involved inget the evidance together and go for it. its the only chance we have
Please modify your use of language when you comment here. Profanities are not accepted.
Tata have made their profits and likewise directors and share holders.
this is an opportunity to renationalise an industry and ifbit works renationalise water and energy companies.
Tata sell the ailing steel companies to UK taxpayers atva knockdown price. they cut their losses by doing so tata TATA.
They already own much of our railway… That’s a disgrace, too.
There is more to this than meets the eye. I have seen other sources that say that the Chinese govt investment bank is making significant loans to Tata Corporation but only if they disinvest in steel and other loss making divisions. Of course their UK steel (and other Tata steel and iron production elsewhere) is loss making only because of Chinese steel dumping, and profits turned to.losses only two years ago. The German steel maker is still in negotiations to buy Tata non-uk steel production. It may be cynical to suggest that the newly updated German steel industry, that has been given a new process which halves to energy consumption by the German govt would be taking over Tata steel production outside the UK to either close down or to.provide preferential import terms for German steel.outside the EU. It would be equally cynical to suggest that the UK govt have guaranteed that the UK steel production industry is closed entirely. But then little in this saga of steel, the Chinese, the Tories, and Tata come out clean.
If the Company goes to the wall the Government will be bailing out the pensions scheme where the parent Company has not been paying to contributing the pension scheme benefits…..Companies were quick to claw back pension holidays when the markets were booming but lack drive in the contribution stakes when the
market goes down……nothing changes
The tories have always flogged every British industry off to the highest bidder and made a huge profit for themselves from it and this will be no different!