Friday, July 31, 2009
MG Rover inquiry report may stay secret
The Government commissioned report into the 2005 collapse of MG Rover may never be published, it has been claimed.
The news comes amid speculation that its conclusions could be damaging to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was Chancellor when the company collapsed, and other senior ministers. MG Rover collapsed with the loss of 6,000 jobs.
The Serious Fraud Office is currently examining the report and will decide within the next few weeks whether to launch a full investigation into the collapse of the business.
In a letter sent earlier this month, an official at the Companies Investigation Branch of the Insolvency Service, suggested that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson might not publish the report.
The suggestion is said to have inflamed political tensions over the report and is counter to ministers' claims that it would be made public.
The Daily Telegraph says its understands that political damage is likely to centre on whether ministers helped to keep the car company solvent until the taxpayer-funded Pension Protection Fund was set up, ensuring that the business's pensioners only lose a fraction of their savings.
However, a spokesman for the Department for Business insisted the report would be published.
DATED: 31.07.09
FEED: AW
