Mandelson told: 'We need action not words'
Mar 3 2009 By Alun Thorne
claiming that the needs of the wider public must take precedence. “We recognise the industry needs support but I know your readers will also expect the Government to make sure they, the taxpayer, get value for money,” he said. “We are moving as fast as we can but getting it right is important.”
Prof Bailey said that the government’s focus on the banking sector, which despite massive injections of capital had not begun lending to industry, had helped compound the problem. He said: “It is disappointing that the government seems to be spending all of its time restructuring and rescheduling its banking bail-outs but it is missing the point of why the banks are being bailed out in the first place which is to help the real economy and get business moving again, including the auto industry.”
Ms Eade described as “reassuring” that Lord Mandelson was listening to concerns being raised in the region but called for more clarity so that desperate suppliers could access the promised support. She said: “A month on from the announcement and the EIB funds are at last available. Now we need details of the application criteria well disseminated in the business support and banking community so good applications can be made and quickly assessed.”
Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell (Con Sutton Coldfield) said: “None of this is necessarily unhelpful but it is desperately slow, and continues to be unclear and opaque.”
Read Lord Mandelson's response to the Auto Industry Summit communiqué here >
