UK government slaughtered as Corus closes steel plant
The chief executive of steel giant Corus tonight slaughtered the UK government after the announcement that the company was being forced to mothball the vast majority of its Teeside Cast Products plant with the loss of 1700 jobs. The company had been in talks with a potential white knight but this consortium collapsed at the last minute leaving Corus with no alternative but to close down the vast majority of the Teeside based operation.
In reality the steel sector has been under pressure for some time as the worldwide economic downturn continues to kick in, creating a larger and larger impact in areas such as steel production. The company believes that the UK government could have stepped in with assistance, even though direct financial assistance would have been difficult under EU regulations, and has lambasted the government's handling of the situation.
Gordon Brown has enjoyed one of his better weeks although this is a nightmare end to this period and something which the Conservative party has already seized upon. It was also revealed that the manufacturing industry now accounts for just 11% of UK economic output compared to 22.5% when Labour came to power in 1997.
Share this..
Related stories
Lord Mandelson pledges to fight for future of Vauxhall in the UK
As the future of Vauxhall operations in the UK and Europe still appear to very much up in the air, Lord Mandelson, the UK's business secretary, has today pledged to fight for UK jobs at the former General Motors European subsidiary. This is yet another saga which has been ongoing for many weeks amid signs that financial assistance has been slow in forthcoming from various European parties includin...
Read MoreUK economy set to fall by 2.8% in 2009
The International Monetary Fund has today issued a report on a variety of Western governments, Western economies and how they are coping with the ongoing economic difficulties. Yet again the UK has been mentioned as the weakest economy in the developed world with forecasts indicating a 2.8% reduction in the UK economy this year. This is the largest one-year fall since 1946 and a rate which is fast...
Read MoreProvide private medical insurance, ABI tells employers
The Association of British Insurers has advised employers in the UK to provide private medical insurance for their workers, detailing the benefits of making such a provision.Spokesman Jonathon French has highlighted the advantages of securing private policies for employees in the case of injury or sickness.He said: "It's certainly something which many companies consider a good thing for the sake o...
Read MoreWho will be next to undermine Gordon Brown?
Only a few days ago we saw senior members of the Labour Party step forward in a direct attack on Gordon Brown's leadership with a request for a secret ballot. Yesterday, we saw Mervyn King step forward to place Gordon Brown's hopes for the introduction of "Tobin tax" at the bottom of the list of options for the UK financial sector. So who will be next to undermine Gordon Brown? There is no doub...
Read MoreUS government looking for financial overhaul
President Obama will today urge the US Congress to approve a mass of changes to the US financial system just one year to the day since the collapse of Lehman Bros. This is a very poignant moment for the US financial markets because the collapse of Lehman Bros ultimately compounded the collapse of the worldwide financial system. The fact that president Obama is looking to use this anniversary to pu...
Read More