SHEFFIELD FORGEMASTERS LOAN

That this House expresses great concern at the decision by the Government to withdraw the £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, which would have complemented a similar amount of private investment in order to purchase and install a forging press capable of manufacturing parts for the nuclear power industry, making it the only company outside Japan and Korea to have this capacity and creating around 400 jobs directly and the opportunity for thousands more in the sector; rejects claims that the money was not there as this was a loan repayable with interest out of which the taxpayer would have made a profit once the extra employees' tax payments are taken into account; notes that Sheffield Forgemasters as a highly successful but medium-sized company was not able to access the total amount of cash commercially despite trying before approaching Government; further notes that it is regrettable that no Minister or civil servant sought to contact the company before withdrawing the loan, and that the end result will be the transfer of a share of growing market in specialised manufacturing products abroad with the loss of revenue and jobs involved; and therefore calls on the Government to reopen talks with Sheffield Forgemasters and rethink this issue as a matter of urgency.