Rennie drags ministers to Parliament over their Gupta deals
SNP ministers will have to appear before Parliament to give statements on potential taxpayer exposure and their deals with Sanjeev Gupta’s troubled business empire after Willie Rennie MSP secured both a portfolio question and a ministerial statement.
On Wednesday (today), Willie Rennie will ask the Scottish Government to provide an update on its discussions with Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance, Liberty Steel and Alvance British Aluminium regarding the companies’ operations in Scotland. At Willie Rennie's request, ministers will also return to give a further statement next week.
Mr Gupta acquired the Dalzell Steelworks in a controversial back-to-back deal facilitated by the Scottish Government, exposing taxpayers to environmental clean-up costs in the event of a wider collapse. He also owns the Lochaber Aluminium Plant, which owes £7 million in loans to Scottish taxpayers and is also backed by hundreds of millions of pounds of Scottish Government guarantees. Years of media reporting have suggested that the accounts for both operations have gone unfiled.
The Scottish Government have so far refused to say whether it has obtained financial guarantees relating to the financing for the tycoon’s Scottish businesses.
Last month a judge found that the GFG Alliance parent group has 15 entities in insolvency proceedings across nine jurisdictions.
Willie Rennie said:
“The Scottish Government have never once given a straight answer about its relationship with Sanjeev Gupta, the financial health of his businesses and where taxpayers stand in all of this. This evasive approach gives the impression they have something to hide.
“When the SNP chose Mr Gupta as the preferred buyer for Dalzell and Lochaber, they were shouting to the high hills about their deals. Now they’ve clammed up. Perhaps they are realising they have been taken for a ride.
“Liberal Democrats have warned the Scottish Government for years about the possibility that Liberty Steel operations could collapse, but so far ministers have refused to act.
“Mr Gupta’s businesses have had no small share of problems. It’s only right that the Scottish Government be clear with MSPs and the public about what discussions it has had with the GFG Alliance, whether taxpayers could be left picking up the pieces and, critically, for how much."