Jeremy Corbyn has accused the government of putting the profits of speculators before the interests of staff at one of Britain’s oldest engineering firms, which is the object of a hostile takeover deal that has been labelled an “abuse of capitalism”.
On Thursday, shareholders in GKN, which made cannonballs for the Battle of Waterloo and Spitfires for the second world war, voted to accept an £8.1bn offerfrom Melrose, a firm that specialises in turning around failing companies and selling them on at a profit, and which has been labelled an “asset stripper”.
Some of GKN’s shareholders had only bought into the company a few days before backing the takeover, prompting the Labour leader to call them speculators looking to make fast cash out of the deal.
“The Tories have put the interests of City speculators over people’s jobs. Labour would have stopped the takeover of GKN and, in government, we’ll make our economy work for the many, not the few,” Corbyn said.
Referring to the front page of Friday’s Daily Mail, which called the deal an “abuse of capitalism”, he added: “You know things are bad when the Daily Mail calls out a rigged economic system.”
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
