Cable defends the coalition's record on supporting steel

Sir Vince Cable: Former Secretary of State for Business claims Treasury dragged feet.

The former Business Secretary has also admitted that steel giant Tata had asked the Government for a specific strategy for their industry back in 2012, but it was not deemed necessary.

He said despite ex-Tata CEO Karl Koehler’s request, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills instead chose to focus on ways to help the sector with compensation for companies that use high amounts of energy.

Steel-giant Tata has announced it is pulling out of all of its UK operations putting 15,000 jobs at risk and the Prime Minister has said he will do all he can to help find a new buyer.

Sir Vince accused the Treasury of ‘dragging its feet’ back in 2012 over ensuring compensation pay-outs for steel companies secured at the EU were high enough  and the department had to haggle regularly.

Public spending cuts meant requests for compensation to give energy-intensive industries a helping hand were repeatedly dismissed and a smaller settlement offered instead.

The Liberal Democrat, who lost his seat at the General Election, said: “They were very reluctant to agree to substantial compensation for energy costs.

“The department has to apply for the compensation money from the Treasury and they will haggle and say if you want to spend money on the steel industry, it’s going to be taken off universities or colleges, so you will have a bitter argument with the Treasury about getting money.”

He said while the Liberal Democrats would have liked to offset the full cost of energy bills, the ‘Treasury weren’t having that’ so the department had to settle for a lower figure.

A Treasury source said: “Vince Cable’s version of events is completely, but predictably, inaccurate. We spent much of the time in coalition seeking to prevent the Liberal Democrats loading businesses with more green taxes.

“Instead, we’ve been taking action to provide compensation for the industry’s energy costs since 2013 and the Chancellor announced more help, worth hundreds of millions of pounds, last autumn.”

Dismay at political capital from steel woes: Page 7.