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Tata Steel frontrunner set for government talks

Ahead of the Number 10 summit, Mr Cameron said: “The Government is doing everything it can to find a long-term, viable solution to save the Port Talbot steelworks”.

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Javid also revealed that Liberty House – owned by Sanjeev Gupta – is not the only company to show interest.

Community leaders have urged Sajid Javid, who has faced increasing criticism over his handling of the crisis gripping the steel industry, to come to Shotton to explain how he will help the region.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

“Steel producers in the UK need to operate on a level playing field with the rest of the world and I will be asking for assurances that the UK Government will negotiate a realistic tariff regime at European Union level to mitigate steel-dumping”.

Gupta told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he believed 2,000 of Port Talbot’s workers employed at the blast furnace could be redeployed within the business.

He will join the Prime Minister in Downing Street in the morning at a meeting with the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones and later is expected to hold talks with union leaders.

But Mr Jones warned that would leave the Flintshire plant without any supplier for around six months putting jobs at risk as they rely on Port Talbot for their raw materials.

The Business Secretary, who took flak for being on a business and leisure trip in Australia when the decision was announced, will meet with Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai.

His firm is conducting due diligence of the Tata Steel operations and have held talks with the Tata Group over the prospect of acquiring the unit and saving thousands of jobs.

Tata Steel has said there is “no fixed timeline” for the sale process but has stressed that urgency is needed to avoid “a long period of uncertainty” for employees and customers.

Mr Jones said the Government had had discussions with more than one potential buyer, adding: “They’re early days yet, but we do have something to build on, even at this early stage”.

“These are the kind of things we have already thought of, we have already started working on and what I hope is that you will have the offer document from Tata, overlay on top of that the help the British government can provide and then you have the makings of a successful deal”, he said.

The Welsh First Minister has said a No 10 steel summit was “encouraging” – as Business Secretary Sajid Javid meets a potential buyer for the Port Talbot steelworks.

“Britain’s rail infrastructure is under massive pressure and is creaking under passenger demand and it would be a win-double for the British taxpayer to see the bringing forward of rail renewals work benefiting United Kingdom steel at this pivotal time for the industry”, said the union’s general secretary Mick Cash. Britain imported 826 000 tons of Chinese steel in 2015, up from 361 000 two years earlier, according to the International Steel Statistic bureau.

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“There is no excuse for the Government dragging its heels as they control the publicly-owned Network Rail and could intervene right now to make a decisive move that would have huge long-term benefits for the twin industries of rail and steel”.

Sanjeev Gupta executive chairman Liberty House Group