Unite, Britain's biggest union, is calling on the Phoenix Four to pay its former 6,000 MG Rover workers the trust fund it was promised.

The fund was set up as workers lost their jobs back in April 2005 and Unite estimates it could be worth up to £22 million. The payment was originally delayed due to the investigation into the collapse of MG Rover, which has now been published.

Tony Woodley, Unite's joint general secretary, said: "The one thing the report can not bring back is the jobs of 6,000 workers.
“What we are calling for now is the release of the money promised to workers and for it to be distributed fairly and evenly. We are asking the Phoenix Four and the bank concerned to act urgently."

The report into MG Rover showed the Phoenix Four directors took £42m in pay and pensions before the company went under but none of them broke the law.

The long-awaited results of the inquiry on MG Rover’s demise, which has cost over £16m, was set up by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry after MGRG, manufacturer of Rover and MG cars, went into administration in April 2005 owing creditors nearly £1.3 billion.

Lord Mandelson has called for the Phoenix Four - Peter Beale, John Edwards, Nick Stephenson and John Towers – to make a public apology over the collapse of MG Rover and the loss of jobs.

However, the directors believe the report has been a witch hunt and the Government has not owned up to its own responsibility for the downfall of the company.