(Filton and Bradley Stoke)
(Con):...I have the interest and great pride of
representing a constituency that has a very large number of
successful and highly skilled defence and aerospace companies,
the largest among them being Rolls-Royce, Airbus and GKN. As an
example, Rolls-Royce represents 2% of all UK
exports by value. We must build on and increase that. Filton and
Bradley Stoke is also home to Defence Equipment and Support at
MOD Abbey Wood, which employs about 10,000 people and does a
fantastic job in procurement and equipping our armed forces
across the world.
The most obvious example of the threat to our sovereign defence
industrial capacity is the recent announcements from BAE. From
conversations I had with representatives of Rolls-Royce in
my constituency just a couple of days ago, I know it is concerned
in the wake of those announcements. The RAF Typhoon jets have a
predicted service life of until about 2040. That may sound like
plenty of time, but the delivery of the next-generation fighter
could take two decades from start to finish. Also, without such
defence contracts, as well as clarity on what the Government’s
plans are and sufficient funding, companies such as Rolls-Royce are in danger of losing
skilled personnel capable of delivering such contracts. In recent
conversations the company was unequivocal in its fear that once
the capability and skills are lost, in many cases they are lost
for good...
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