Westland lose opportunity for Search and Rescue

The defence industry is a vital part of the South Somerset economy. Thanks to the recession and the wasteful and inefficient spending of the present government, we are faced with major cutbacks in future public spending and this poses great risks to defence business prospects.

It will be vital, irrespective of party, that the next MP for Yeovil is able to influence defence spending and the future Government.

Much has been written in your paper about how Agusta Westland might, or might not, be in a position to build the newly ordered Chinooks under licence. Those I have spoken to both in and out of the industry cast some doubt as to the chances of Westland tooling for the assembly in time to start delivering by the 2012 date for the first deliveries.

However, there is one helicopter programme that, if elected, I shall be wishing to pursue. The present government is today proposing a Private Finance Initiative, over 30 years, to replace our Search and Rescue helicopters. The Government wishes Search and Rescue to move from a military service to a private sector service – a bit like saying we will privatise the ambulance service or the fire service. Putting aside the argument of whether we agree with this idea (which I do not) we would have hoped to have seen Westland bidding to provide the helicopters they currently provide to the service through the ageing Sea King. However, it appears that Westland are not in the winning consortium having withdrawn for 'commercial reasons', despite providing search and rescue helicopters for the Spanish, Korean, US, Italian and other Governments across the world..

The announcement today to ditch the infamous Yellow Sea King helicopter saddens me but, if elected, I will certainly be arguing with a hopefully Conservative Secretary of State for Defence that this decision should be reviewed and that Westland should be bought to the table. I am disappointed that the present MP has failed to succeed in ensuring that Westland continues to be the manufacturer of choice for both the armed forces and the Search and Rescue service, but then delivering for Yeovil is difficult when you have no influence with those making the decisions.

Related articles by Zemanta

• End Of The Iconic Yellow Sea King Chopper (news.sky.com)