No blank cheque for car industry

Link to article at Channel 4

Last Modified: 27 Jan 2009
By: Siobhan Kennedy

The government will provide guarantees of up to £1.3bn to the car manufacturers, but Lord Mandelson warns it is not a bailout.

This industry is not a lame duck and this is not a bailout, the government insists, as it offers the car industry loan guarantees worth more than £2bn.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said he was not offering struggling firms a blank cheque. But the cash would unlock £1.3bn of loans from Europe to fund investment in eco-friendly vehicles.

The Conservatives dismissed the package as "pretty small beer", while union leaders said it was a fraction of the support being offered elsewhere in Europe.



Lord Mandelson

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson joins Jon Snow from Westminster.