Unite has described the government decision to award the New Medium Helicopter contract to the Leonardo Yeovil facility as a tremendous victory for aerospace workers, while renewing calls for full publication and funding of the Defence Investment Plan.
The union, which represents thousands of workers in aerospace and defence, said the decision followed more than a year of campaigning aimed at securing the contract for a UK site. It argues the award safeguards over 10,000 highly skilled roles at Leonardo, across its supply chain and in the wider regional economy.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite has been campaigning for this government to buy British defence for over a year because it is vital for jobs, and skills as well as national security.”
She added: “The Leonardo contract is a tremendous victory for Unite members in Yeovil and across the aerospace sector. Without their commitment, hard work and dedication, it would not be being signed today.”
Graham also criticised the pace of decision-making, stating: “Of course, we are pleased that Rachel Reeves has now listened to Unite on this issue. However, it took way too long to get this done, and we still have to question why workers were left in the dark until the 11th hour.”
Alongside welcoming the helicopter award, Unite is pressing the government to fully fund and publish the Defence Investment Plan, including clarity on future combat air and space programmes.
“It can start by getting the full Defence Investment Plan published, including Typhoons and military satellites made in Britain,” Graham said.
As part of its “back British workers defence” campaign, the union is calling for the replacement of older RAF fighter jets with new Typhoons assembled in Lancashire and equipped with UK-built engines and weapons; continued domestic production of the Skynet military satellite communications system in Portsmouth and Stevenage; and the purchase of additional A400M transport aircraft.
Earlier this week Unite held a rally at Downing Street and submitted a petition of around 10,000 signatures urging ministers to publish the plan and deliver what it terms a British defence dividend.
Funny the Telegraph today was only saying that the Treasury had denied the order till the DIP is done.
Yeah, apparently crap has hit the fan internally this morning with the chancellor getting dragged in and overriding the idiocy from the rest of the treasury, as per the BBC: “The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, did not want the deal to collapse on her watch, because security and growth “were fundamentally connected”, a Treasury source said.”
Basically a realisation of the economic and political fallout that will be had by letting Leonardo collapse in the UK as a result of not getting the contract.
There’s clearly been yet another chaotic U-turn: Healey was due to visit the factory yesterday and cancelled at the last minute; then the announcement comes the day after!
Treasury bean counters had apparently been arguing that as the MoD had ranked the helicopter procurement so low in its risk of priorities it wouldn’t sign off the procurement with Leonardo having been selected as the winner from the procurement exercise months ago. So a ministerial visit to the factory yesterday to announce the order was cancelled at the last minute. However the deadline for approving the bid was the 1st of March and the Chancellor thus overrode the Treasury saying the loss of jobs if the plant closed (3,000 direct and 15,000 in the supply chain) outweighed the cost of the contract. I do wonder if the By-election did factor in to the sudden urgency by the Chancellor though.
I find it odd the Treasury would go against the wishes of the Chancellor. More likely she agreed with her team only for a certain by-election to focus minds on the risk of losing 10,000+ jobs (3,000 at Leonardoe’s plus thousands more in the supply chain) to refocus minds and the spin doctors are dropping the Civil Servants in it to cover Reeve’s back..!
The Treasury really should not be allowed to interfere with the spending departs plans, although to be fair the MoD has had some absolute howlers over the years.
Cheers CR
Wastelands makework
You mean supporting and developing our sovereign defence industry with actual orders… making sure we still have a sovereign rotor capability so we are not dependent on other nations for something as fundamental to our national survival as ASW rotors and drones..
I don’t get this website, did I miss the actual order? Why is a union’s reaction to the order mentioned before telling us what was actually ordered?
Well the Telegraph has an article up saying its not happening due to Revee’s while the BBC has an article up saying it is happening due to her. So I think there’s a bit of “confusion” going on at the moment.
Possibly Reeves questioned the decision because the MOD would rather have spent the £1b on something else, but she was overruled – more votes and better ‘optics’ in Yeovil. Michael Heseltine must have a wry smile on his face 🙂
No it’s now been confirmed at about 3.30 this afternoon… when you consider ifs Friday and the treasury would all be heading home and the procurement option expires on Sunday and essentially Leonardo said it was going to close the factory and end UK sovereign rotor production.. I suspect someone’s got the threaten of a good sacking unless it happened before everyone went home for the weekend…
They’re doing what they can with the information available, which is confused, contradictory and scattered at the moment. Think the UKDJ staff are doing an excellent job given the absolute farce that is defence news vis a vis the DIP and the chaos it is causing
Any numbers?
23 helicopters, approx. £1bn contract value.
Yeah, just saw that on Twitter.
Why 23 and not 24, I wonder? Is it some random wrangling over the H145 purchase?
Guessing they couldn’t fit another one into the billion?
Think thats the number of Puma airframes to replace, not the other types?
I believe the original order was to have been for 44 helicopters, a small cut in numbers was to be expected due to the H145 purchase but not this many.
It’s prime number? Actually I think they are paying on the credit card and will round it up to 24 giving one to charity.
I thought it was for 40 airframes?
Think that got pared back a long time ago.
Cuts dear boy cuts👍
The government has been using the endless delays is getting the DIP out to justify not placing orders for just about anything, regardless of urgency or the impact on jobs.
I’m only surprised she didn’t wait until the Westland workforce P45s had been sent out. The party for workng people? Don’t make me laugh.
About time too, now would you care to write the cheque to keep GCAP moving forward.
There was a report only a couple of days ago that Japan is getting impatient because of our delays. I hope that is not bad news!!
I saw it and the Italians are not happy that we are not sharing critical technology. We basically have a summer deadline to avoid an FCAS moment.
An entirely avoidable FCAS moment.
Yes we are engaged in alot of capital hungry programs from AUKUS to Hyoersonics.
We are having to make up for the stupidity of the past
3000 jobs are currently directly employed in the development of GCAP.
The budget is ballooning but to anyone with a brain , this is not a surprise. Tempest is a massive leap in technology but the export potential and the tech spin offs are enormous.
What country in their right mind is going to buy the F47 even if the yanks do try to sell it after Trumps whitehouse rant .
For once U.K. government use your brain. I am not happy with bringing the Saudi in but needs must, I am even less happy bring the Germans in after the shinanigans the caused with Typhoon but if that is what it takes . So be it.
We NEED the jet!
£1b cuts elsewhere then.
This will be trotted out for the next three years and new money spent.
This is really just turning into a game of chicken.
Who will bottle first.
If a factory might close then the cheque book opens. That makes so much sense of a strategic DIP…..not….
I’m now awaiting to hear about the order for Typhoon, once BAE announce the closure is imminent, and the order for more T31 once Babcock announce a deadline….
This is not reactive decision making not at all…..why is my nose growing longer….?
I suspect the treasury was playing a game to force acceptance of the DIP.. accept the DIP as is or we block the order of your helicopters.. essential I think as you say they were playing chicken.. and someone got a kicking when they nearly drove a sovereign capability off a cliff.
My favourite bit of the BBC article being ‘In the 1950s it produced Merlin and Apache helicopters.’
Who proof reads this stuff?
You obviously didnt, the article says the factory switched to producing helicopters in the 50’s and more recently has produced Merlin and Apache helicopters.
Which was edited after my copy and paste directly from the BBC website…so have your £1 back
I’m not a political commentator; however, if the DIP is an example of Starmer’s government, then maybe all the criticism over his leadership is correct. He’s throwing the UK’s security and associated industries under the bus!
The helicopter was the only one left in the running it was either this Helo or nothing everyone else pulled out due to pricing and wasn’t going to proved there Helo for the price UK offered .hope this doesn’t go the same way as Ajax one built every 8 years
Sharon Graham vs Rachel Reeves. Handbags at dawn 😂
……couldn’t resist it. Both very talented ladies.
Is that duelling with handbags?
Shameless misogyny on my part. I’m sure they are both tough enough to take a joke. Let’s just say …Sharon 1 Treasury 0 hope I get off with just a yellow card 🙂
Welcome, of course. BUT why has it taken 20 months to order the helicopter we all knew was the only one in the frame.
Due to cost negotiations obviously. Even single source contracts have negotiations on timelines, deliveries, costs, on shoring, maintenance, numbers, etc etc
Wow, Labour ordered something. 🍾 Oh, only 23.
After the political damage caused to the govt by the Treasury inspired advice to cut the winter fuel allowance it seems that Reeves and Starmer have discovered some political nous genes, and their moxie and have told the Treasury where they get off. Better late than never I suppose. Civil servants advise, elected politicians decide.