Government to offer Port Talbot steelworks deal support, Sajid Javid says

The Government is ready to provide support in order to clinch a deal to save the Port Talbot steelworks, Business Secretary Sajid Javid has said.

Mr Javid said he believed there was time to find a buyer for the South Wales plant and the other UK assets of Tata Steel.

"Tata will issue an offer document very soon. Alongside that, the UK Government know - I've known for a while - that we're also going to have to offer support to clinch that buyer and give that steel plant a long-term, viable future," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.

While he said he did not believe that nationalising the loss-making steel producer was a solution to its problems, he insisted he was ruling nothing out in order to find a deal.

"I don't think nationalisation is a solution to this. Having said that, I also think it wouldn't be prudent to rule anything out at this stage, but I think that nationalisation is rarely an answer in these situations," he said.

"I do feel, though, for lots of reasons after talking to Tata and many others involved in this, that there will be enough time to find the right buyer working with the Government and being able to take this forward.

"We will look at everything we can do to allow a sale going ahead and I wouldn't rule anything out at this stage."