Government rescues UK jobs after power plant row

The government has stepped in with £98m to save UK jobs after a row developed over the use of foreign labour to build a £600m power station in Nottinghamshire.

Unions and construction firms were angered after a subcontractor at the Staythorpe power station hired two Spanish firms FMM and Montpressa for the job.

Unite the union said the two firms would be using non-UK workers for all except one particular job.

However, Alstom, the subcontractor on the RWE project, claims only a few subcontractors were from abroad.

Skills secretary John Denham will tell the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) that the government wants to ensure UK jobs are not lost to foreign workers, according to the Guardian.

“I have asked UK Commission for Employment and Skills, working with employers, to develop an annual analysis of strategic skills trends and pressures,” he will tell the CBI.