Throughout the past three years, both Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford have never been shy about taking a swing at Boris Johnson. Whether it be pandemic restrictions or Brexit negotiations, the SNP and Labour first ministers are among the first to stick the boot into their London counterpart in their haste to distance themselves from those dreadfully corrupt Tories. So Mr S was amused to see that for all their proclamations about the superiority of the squeaky-clean systems at Holyrood and Cardiff Bay, both administrations have now been dragged into the unfolding scandal around Liberty Steel.
The firm, which is run by the controversial tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, yesterday had its premises raised by the Serious Fraud Office which is demanding information about suspected fraud and money laundering by Liberty’s parent company GFG Alliance. GFG employs about 35,000 people in businesses including energy, steel and trading, with Gupta coming under scrutiny after the collapse of GFG’s main lender Greensill Capital collapsed. It was the main lender to GFG’s Liberty Steel, which employs 3,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales.
Why is all this relevant? Well, in Scotland the Sturgeon government in 2016 backed Liberty’s purchase of an aluminium smelting plant in Fort William with £586 million on condition that 2,000 jobs were created – but thus far only 50 have been as of December. There are fears that the taxpayer will, yet again, be forced to pick up the tab if Liberty does collapse, with the Scottish Government now under mounting pressure to explain their involvement with the firm.
Meanwhile in Wales, Drakeford’s predecessor Carwyn Jones still sits on GFG’s board amid the unfolding controversy. The former First Minister was accused of breaking the rules that regulate ex-ministers taking up new jobs in 2020 when he accepted the post after being rapped by UK watchdog ACOBA. But despite concerns about Jones’ previous involvement with the steel industry and how that could help GFG, Drakeford still backed his predecessor in accepting the post. Liberty Steel owns a steelworks in Newsport and tried to buy Tata Steel’s plant in Port Talbot a few years ago.
Something to bear in mind perhaps the next time ministers in Edinburgh and Cardiff get on their high horse about failings in Westminster.
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