Unite, Britain's leading union in the defence and aerospace sectors, has issued a scathing criticism of government procurement policy after production lines for the Typhoon fighter jet in Warton, Lancashire ground to a halt.

Hundreds of workers at the site, employed by BAE Systems, have had to be transferred to other BAE factories or to RAF bases as there are no further domestic or export orders for the Typhoon.

Unite has long campaigned for the government to place a new order for a fourth tranche of the Typhoon. 

How has government let this happen

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Workers at BAE and across the whole UK defence and manufacturing industry will be looking at the ending of the Typhoon final assembly production at Warton and asking how a government promising to turn defence spending into ‘British growth, British jobs, British skills, British innovation’ could let it happen.
 
"I have repeatedly told government ministers how much is at risk in terms of jobs, skills, and national security if we stop assembling our own fighter planes. But instead of future planning and ensuring skilled workers are ready to produce the next generation of fighter jets [GCAP], they still seem content to sit on their hands while those skills begin to wither and die.
 
"The MoD must now urgently announce its commitment to the Typhoon with an order for the latest, cutting-edge T5 Typhoons to replace the aging RAF fighters being retired. A failure to do this could destroy a generation of aerospace workers and would amount to an act of national self-harm."
 

Future skills 

GCAP, a sixth generation stealth fighter jet being jointly made by the UK, Italy and Japan is due to have substantial volumes made in the UK. But with workers being moved away from the Warton production site, vital skills will be lost as many choose not to relocate.

Unite national officer for aerospace Rhys McCarthy added: "The government has suggested that export orders could fill the gap until GCAP but none have been forthcoming. This is hardly surprising since the government doesn't have enough faith in the plane to buy it itself yet expects foreign countries to.

"This is an act of self-sabotage that will wreak havoc with the aerospace workforce across Lancashire and a UK wide supply chain that supports thousands of jobs. The government needs to place an order for new Typhoons yesterday."

-ENDS-