Commenting on today's news that the Labour Party is calling on the Government to intervene to save Liberty Steel, Richard said:
"Labour’s shadow business minister today called for the government to intervene to save Liberty Steel, the UK steel business that is part of the Gupta Family Group (GFG), a business embroiled in the Greensill scandal. In my view Labour’s proposal is ill advised and demonstrates a shocking lack of understanding of the current circumstances of GFG.
A cursory review of recent news reports from reputable sources would show that there are serious questions being asked about the financing used by GFG; about the opaque corporate structure of a group that stretches across multiple jurisdictions and industries; and questions emerging about taxpayer grants, loans and guarantees which have already been given to the group.
There is history here with governments in Wales, Scotland, Italy, Australia as well as for the UK as a whole, being too eager to lead with easy cash rather than with tough questions. Labour wants to repeat these errors.
Offering GFG a big bag of taxpayers’ money, as Labour is proposing, before these questions are satisfactorily answered by GFG is unwise."
