TATA

Tata Steels Billet Mill in Stocksbridge, Yorkshire, is like all steel mills a dangerous place. Tata Steel undertook a safety risk assessment relating to the lifting of a skip from a hole in the ground and found that there was a risk of injury which could be mitigated by installing a barrier around the hole. They didn't do it and someone fell in. It's cost a large fine.

Two days ago, the British government told TATA that it would not underwrite loan guarantees without conditions (story). TATA didn't like that - and said the UK Government was putting jobs at risk. Today, TATA owned CORUS, the rump of what was British Steel, says it is mothballing its Teesside plant at a cost of 2,000 jobs.

Having failed in its initial bid to gain support from the British government via Peter Mandelson, TATA is now playing hard-ball with the UK's Labour Party in its bid to get its purchase of Jaguar Land Rover underwritten by the UK taxpayer. It's getting dangerously close to a foreign company playing power broker in UK politics.

India's TATA, which has had all manner of problems in getting factories set up due to local opposition, yesterday brought the Nano to the market. The eagerly anticipated "one-step-up-from-a-motorbike" car will sell in India only. It's price a jaw-dropping low of under GBP2,000 (equivalent). And everyone wants to know more.

Is there a pattern? Peter Mandelson's links to Indian businessmen were one of the reasons for at least one of his disgraces. Now, within weeks of his return from exile in Europe, he is once again "considering" assisting an Indian business.

The UK has backtracked on a high-cost "showroom tax" on cars, and whilst the cost will reduce substantially for all cars, for some the tax will actually turn into a rebate. But it won't save the UK car industry. And behind it all, there are some very questionable dealings.

It is expected that Ford, which had already said that Tata of India was its preferred bidder, will shortly announce that Jaguar and Range Rover will be sold to TATA for USD2 milliard.