Not long after the Coalition Government in Westminster was agreed they announced that Sheffield Foregmasters was not getting the Government loan to help it expand, the decision was condemned as short sighted by Labour and the Government made out that it was a bad loan that the Country simply couldn’t afford.
It was also highly embarrassing for the Lib Dems who run Sheffield Council and whose leader Nick Clegg represents a Sheffield constituency, but a story that having done some damage seemed to be fading from the headlines until this week.
Details have emerged that a Tory donor and owner of another engineering plant in the area, Andrew Cook lobbied for the loan to be cancelled claiming it breached EU law, while at the same time looking to invest in the company himself.
Andrew Cook is also the same Conservative donor who paid for Prime Minister David Cameron’s flights to the Yorkshire region to the tune of £54,000 in opposition according to the Guardian.
It’s no surprise that the Labour Party has called for an inquiry, but the Lib Dems and Conservative are less keen, incase there are more uncomfortable facts to emerge.
I have no idea if the story has legs but it’s certainly been causing a few headaches for the Government this week and perhaps more worrying for Mr Clegg this latest episode reinforces the view that the Liberal Democrats are dancing to the Conservatives tune and are not fully aware of the reasons for the Government’s decisions, it’s something that will do damage to Liberal Democrats in upcoming elections despite the spin from them to the contrary.Any source
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