Mittal Affair

The Mittal Affair began in 2002 when the Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament Adam Price exposed the link between UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. The events are also referred to as "Garbagegate" or "Cash for Influence".^[1][2][3] Mittal's LNM steel company, registered in the Netherlands Antilles and maintaining less than 1% of its 100,000 plus workforce in the UK, sought Blair's aid in its bid to purchase Romania's state steel industry.^[3] The letter from Blair to the Romanian government, a copy of which Price was able to obtain, hinted that the privatisation of the firm and sale to Mittal might help smooth the way for Romania's entry into the European Union.^[1]

The letter had a passage in it removed just prior to Blair's signing of it, describing Mittal as "a friend".^[3]

In exchange for Blair's support Mittal, already a Labour contributor, donated £125,000 more to Labour party funds a week after the 2001 UK General Elections, while as many as six-thousand of Welsh steelworkers were laid off that same year, Price and others pointed out.^[1] Mittal's company, then the fourth largest in the world, was a "major global competitor of Britain's own struggling steel industry, Corus, formerly known as British Steel."^[3] Corus and Valkia Limited were two of the primary employers in South Wales, particularly in Ebbw Vale, Llanwern (a ward of Newport, Wales), and Port Talbot.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Plaid reveals Labour steel cash link". BBC News. 2002-02-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1813620.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-01. "Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing a new row over Labour's business links after a £125,000 donation to party funds from a steel tycoon." 
2. ^ Lakshmi Mittal, steel mill millionaire , 14 February, 2002, extracted 11-01-07
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Garbagegate". BBC. 14 February 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1818955.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-11. "He wrote a letter of support to what he says was a British company which was trying to take over Romania's state steel industry. The owner of that company, Indian businessman Lakshmi Mittal, had recently donated £125,000 to Labour party funds." 
4. ^ Steel firm condemns 'Mittal aid' , 18 February, 2002, 14:47 GMT extracted 11-01-07