STEEL giant Tata's plea of poverty over plans to sack 2,800 steelworkers in Wales were exposed as a sham by Unite today.

Union analysis of the firm’s finances showed it made a profit of £3 billion last year and pocketed a £500 million taxpayer handout.

Unite said that Tata is awash with money and had paid out £1.4bn in shareholder dividends in the last five years, while also holding reserves of £1.6bn.