Unelected Secretary of State for Business, Peter Mandelson, has this afternoon made a statement on government plans to help the car industry.Having been much hyped since December as a 'bail out' of the industry, following growing announcements of job losses and temporary shut downs, very little of substance has emerged.
One of the most-trailed measures was potential help for car company finance arms, to enable people who still want to buy a new car to get a loan in these times when banks are less keen to lend.
Such a plan would at least target the main problem - that demand for new cars has dropped off a cliff and car makers have stockpiles of unsold cars.
However it would not be specific help for British industry, as EU single market rules would prevent it being tied to the purchase of only British-made cars.
Yet despite the hype, all that today's statement offered was that the government was "looking at steps" on this front - a feeble response when the industry's troubles have been evident for months and action is desperately needed.
The Treasury is thought to be opposed to the idea, fearing it would set a precedent and open the floodgates to demands from other industries for the same treatment. Particularly from those within the also much-troubled electronics and furniture retail sectors.
Loan guarantees
The headline-grabbing measure, which no doubt most of the mainstream media will robotically retail, was the announcement of guarantees to 'unlock' loans of up to £1.3 billion from the European Investment Bank.
Plus a further £1 billion in loans was offered to fund non-EIB eligible investment that would be of particular benefit to Britain or to the advancement of green technology.
Responding later in the House of Commons, Mandelson's 'shadow' for the Conservatives, Ken Clarke, claimed that these loans had been announced previously and were nothing new.
Mandelson said that proposals for assistance would be considered on a "case by case" basis, and evidently seeking to slay any ghosts of the 70s he said that there would be "no operating subsidies".
Details as to the criteria by which such proposals will be judged were not given, but may emerge after a 'car summit' between government and major players in the industry, due tomorrow.
Long term fantasy
Speaking in the House of Lords, where there is no elected opposition to question him, Mandelson said that the government's proposals were designed to 'lay the foundations for a low carbon future'.
It's another example of an affliction of politicians that is becoming increasingly obvious in these troubled times. Calling it futuritis, author of the EUreferendum blog, Richard North, describes it as: "Unable to deal with the problems of the present ... they fix their eyes on some point in the future, when everything will come right. They thus ignore completely the disasters of today and tomorrow, painting their vision of distant sunlit uplands".
When it comes to the car industry, such 'low carbon future' long-termism is completely misplaced when, unless critical short term problems are relieved, there may be no car industry left.
Those problems were largely ignored by today's statement.
Such a plan would at least target the main problem - that demand for new cars has dropped off a cliff and car makers have stockpiles of unsold cars.
However it would not be specific help for British industry, as EU single market rules would prevent it being tied to the purchase of only British-made cars.
Yet despite the hype, all that today's statement offered was that the government was "looking at steps" on this front - a feeble response when the industry's troubles have been evident for months and action is desperately needed.
The Treasury is thought to be opposed to the idea, fearing it would set a precedent and open the floodgates to demands from other industries for the same treatment. Particularly from those within the also much-troubled electronics and furniture retail sectors.
Loan guarantees
The headline-grabbing measure, which no doubt most of the mainstream media will robotically retail, was the announcement of guarantees to 'unlock' loans of up to £1.3 billion from the European Investment Bank.
Plus a further £1 billion in loans was offered to fund non-EIB eligible investment that would be of particular benefit to Britain or to the advancement of green technology.
Responding later in the House of Commons, Mandelson's 'shadow' for the Conservatives, Ken Clarke, claimed that these loans had been announced previously and were nothing new.
Mandelson said that proposals for assistance would be considered on a "case by case" basis, and evidently seeking to slay any ghosts of the 70s he said that there would be "no operating subsidies".
Details as to the criteria by which such proposals will be judged were not given, but may emerge after a 'car summit' between government and major players in the industry, due tomorrow.
Long term fantasy
Speaking in the House of Lords, where there is no elected opposition to question him, Mandelson said that the government's proposals were designed to 'lay the foundations for a low carbon future'.
It's another example of an affliction of politicians that is becoming increasingly obvious in these troubled times. Calling it futuritis, author of the EUreferendum blog, Richard North, describes it as: "Unable to deal with the problems of the present ... they fix their eyes on some point in the future, when everything will come right. They thus ignore completely the disasters of today and tomorrow, painting their vision of distant sunlit uplands".
When it comes to the car industry, such 'low carbon future' long-termism is completely misplaced when, unless critical short term problems are relieved, there may be no car industry left.
Those problems were largely ignored by today's statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment