The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has today announced that it does not intend to begin a criminal investigation into the collapse of MG Rover. The SFO was asked to review events which led to the collapse of the MG Rover Group following a report by the independent investigators appointed by the government following the collapse of MG Rover in April 2005.
I’m pleased the SFO has looked at this matter promptly and been able to issue a decision just a month or so after being asked to consider the independent report into the collapse of MG Rover.
The SFO has today clarified that there will not be a criminal investigation. It is therefore now important that the independent report is published as soon as possible.
The inquiry was set up soon after the collapse of the company in April 2005. To everyone’s surprise it took over four years to complete and cost a great deal of money. It is now important to clarify what issues the inquiry looked at and what are its conclusions.
Everyone needs to remember who is important in all of this – the people who lost their jobs when MG Rover collapsed, their families and those living in the communities in the West Midlands for whom the company was so important. They deserve answers to their unanswered questions so that they can move on and that means the Inspectors’ report must be published as soon and as fully as possible.
The local community should be given the chance to draw a line under all of this and move on; to press ahead the redevelopment of the Longbridge site to provide the new jobs, training and opportunities that local people deserve.
