Downing Street Says » Sheffield Forgemasters

» Thursday, July 22, 2010

Sheffield Forgemasters

Asked about reports that businessman Andrew Cook lobbied the government to cancel the 80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, the Prime Minister’s Spokeswoman (PMS) said that the government’s decision regarding Sheffield Forgemasters was based on affordability.

Asked if the Prime Minister felt there should be an inquiry into this, the PMS referred reporters to what Business Minister Mark Prisk said last night; the letter from Andrew Cook had no bearing on the decision-making process. The decision regarding Sheffield Forgemasters, alongside other items agreed by the previous administration, were based on affordability.

Asked if the letter from Andrew Cook to Mark Prisk had been shown to the Business Secretary, the PMS said that reporters should ask the Business Department.

Asked if the Prime Minister was aware of representations from Andrew Cook, the PMS said that the representations were dealt with in the same way as all others; companies and organisations lobbied government consistently, and decisions were made on strict criteria.

Asked if Andrew Cook had written to the Prime Minister, the PMS said that the Prime Minister got a lot of correspondence, which we didn’t necessarily comment on day to day.

Asked if there were plans to look through the record for correspondence from Andrew Cook, the PMS said that in general individual companies and organisations lobbied the government on a variety of issues, and decisions were made using all the facts. This particular decision was based on affordability. We would not provide a running commentary on correspondence.

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