As the Prime Minister pledged to do everything he could to safeguard the
future of the biggest Rover car plant there was speculation tonight that a
British consortium is on the verge of stepping in to save the factories.
The development comes on the eve of a crunch meeting at German car giant BMW
tomorrow to decide the future of its loss-making subsidiary.
As union leaders flew to Munich to seek urgent talks with BMW bosses, and
Tony Blair promised to fight to save tens of thousands of jobs.
Channel Four News reported that former Rover marketing director Kevin Morley
was heading a British consortium that was expected to make an offer for
Longbridge, in Birmingham, and Cowley, in Oxfordshire, to the BMW board
tomorrow.
In a further twist, a German newspaper will report tomorrow that three BMW
board members have been fired because of the dispute over the future of
Rover.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung will also report that Rover will be sold to a British
investment group, saying it will be headquartered in the Cayman Islands.
Mr Morley, who resigned from Rover in controversial circumstances in 1992
after eight years with the company to start his own advertising agency, was
said to be backed by the London-based venture capital firm Alchemy.
In 1998, the maverick father-of-two, who lives in a small Oxfordshire village
and has a penchant for BMW cars, headed an ambitious but ultimately
unsuccessful bid to keep Rolls-Royce in British hands.
It was thought Mr Morley's team was planning to meet with Trade and Industry
Secretary Stephen Byers to discuss details of the rescue plan.
News of a potential sell-off pushed BMW stock up 11.3% to £18.43 in Frankfurt
trading today.
Meanwhile, union leaders were in Munich ahead of the meeting of BMW's
supervisory board tomorrow to determine Rover's fate.
They were earlier left reeling after a three-hour meeting near Birmingham
with Rover chief executive Werner Samann, who refused to spell out the
options to be considered by the 22-member company board.
Tony Woodley, chief car industry negotiator for the Transport and General
Workers' Union, warned: "There is no doubt that my instincts tell me we are
dealing with the proposed break-up of Rover.
"But we are still very much in the dark. It's extremely serious and I am
extremely angry at the way this is being played out and there's no doubt in
my mind the British workers and people are being treated despicably. We are
being used as soft touches."
BMW refused to add to its shock statement last night that it had been working
on proposals to restructure Rover. But it promised to brief the Press at its
headquarters at 10.30am on Friday.
Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers today telephoned BMW chairman
Joachim Milberg to stress the importance of Rover to the UK.
A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry said later that Mr
Milberg had told Mr Byers the position was "difficult".
In the Commons, Tony Blair told MPs that the Government would do everything
possible to safeguard the future of the huge Longbridge plant in Birmingham.
The Tories announced they would be calling an Opposition Day debate on Rover
in the Commons tomorrow.
Terry Pye, national officer of the Manufacturing Science and Finance union,
who was on the union mission to Munich, said BMW's reticence over the future
of Longbridge was "completely unacceptable".
He added: "Our members are understandably concerned about securing their
jobs. BMW's silence does not bode well for the future, so we are demanding to
know what the options are."
In another development, the European Commission said it was pressing ahead
with its inquiry into proposed state aid to Longbridge.
The Commission is looking into the legality of state aid worth about £150
million. Such funds to industry must be proved not to give one company or
sector an unfair competitive advantage in the European market place.
At the Longbridge plant, workers voiced fears that BMW was about to announce
a decision to axe the 9,000 employees, a move which would spark off tens of
thousands of job losses in the West Midlands components industry.
Keith Bagnall, who has worked at the sprawling Birmingham site for more than
30 years, said: "We have been here before, and we all know that BMW are only
interested in the plant at Solihull (Cowley) and the profitable Land Rover
part of the company."
The 50-year-old assembly line worker added: "They offer with one hand and
take away with the other."
Tonight Mr Morley, speaking his from home in the exclusive Boars Hill area of
Oxford said: "I'm not prepared to discuss anything."
Mr Morley said he might be prepared to talk in the morning.
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