Pressure mounts on Boeing over Belfast jobs fear
exploit their customers until they get caught. We’ve already established that bankers can’t be trusted so they need to be policed on a daily, hourly, by-the-minute basis.’
Lawrence Tomlinson, the entrepreneur whose report on the treatment of small firms by banks uncovered allegations of abuse at RBS, feared tr i bunals o r a n ombudsman service could be controlled by former bankers. He called for RBS and Lloyds to be broken up, adding: ‘While RBS and Lloyds have an absolutely dominant position, firms are always on the back foot.’
Separately, The Mail on Sunday understands that an inquiry into what Lloyds knew about the socalled HBOS Reading fraud has been widened. Dame Linda Dobbs, the former High Court judge hired to look into the issue, is scrutinising the period in 2008 when Lloyds was in talks to acquire HBOS, to find out what executives were told during the due diligence process.
Dobbs’s inquiry previously covered only the period after the takeover in 2009 to January this year when six bankers were jailed for their part in the fraud. Widening the inquiry gives Dobbs the possibility of questioning former HBOS board members and bankers involved in the takeover.
Dobbs cannot force witnesses to talk to her. But the inquiry is sifting through 50,000 documents obtained from Lloyds and has appealed to victims to supply material so that it can check whether whistleblower emails sent to the bank were deleted in a cover-up. A Lloyds spokesman said: ‘ It is for Dame Linda to consider what documents and which individuals are r el evant t o assi s t her review. Lloyds Group is determined to get to the bottom of what went on.’
THERESA May will meet Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa tomorrow to discuss joint action to ramp up pressure on Boeing in a dispute that threatens 4,500 jobs in Northern Ireland.
The US plane maker claims Canadian rival Bombardier is selling its C- Series jets, whose wings are made in Belfast, at below cost price in the US. It alleges Bombardier received unfair subsidies from the US and Canadian governments in a 2016 deal with US carrier Delta.
UK Government sources said the two Prime Ministers were in agreement that Boeing should back off.
A ruling is expected from the US Department of Commerce on September 25 over Boeing’s claim. This could hit Bombardier with punitive tariffs, which would make it difficult to sell the jets in the US and could risk its future.
Bombardier, which announced 95 job cuts in Belfast last week, describes the allegations as ‘absurd’. It said it complied with all relevant laws in its funding arrangements.
Gavin Robinson, the DUP MP for Belfast East, who sits on the Commons Defence Committee, said the Government should warn Boeing that if it does not withdraw its complaint it could have an effect on defence orders. The UK is buying 50 Boeing Apache attack helicopters and nine Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft. Canada is buying Boeing F16 fighter jets.
‘Boeing has been reminded at the Ministry of Defence level that we are a very big customer,’ he said.
He also warned that should the ruling put Bombardier at risk, the Chinese could buy it and gain access to its technological prowess.
Boeing said that it ‘had to take action as subsidised competition has hurt us now and will continue to hurt us for years to come ’. Mrs May has spoken to US President Donald Trump over the case and leaders of the DUP and Sinn Fein have written to the Vice-President. The Government said: ‘Our priority is to encourage Boeing to drop its case and seek a negotiated settlement with Bombardier .’