Cable under fire over lost Eurofighter deal
BUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable has come under fire for not lobbying hard enough to save the sale of BAE Systems’ Eurofighter jets to India.
Fylde MP Mark Menzies said he had tabled questions to the Department of Business over its backing of the bid.
BAE thought it had secured a contract to part assemble the 126 Typhoon jets at Warton and Samlesbury. But last month India’s government said it planned to buy cheaper jets from French firm Dassault. The Typhoon jet is built by the German and Spanish branches of EADS, Britain’s BAE Systems and Italy’s Finmeccanica.
Menzies has claimed the Department of Business Innovation and Skills is ultimately responsible for exports and said Cable should be doing more to chase the contract.
The Department for Business replied that ministers have been involved at a number of levels and Cable had been personally involved in discussions with his Indian counterparts and had been on two trade missions to help secure the deal.
BAE Systems, which has been laying off staff and is debating the future of warship production at its Portsmouth plant, is likely to face further scrutiny this week after reports that its three top executives will receive bigger bonuses because of a £200m tax rebate related to spending on research and development.
The Sunday Times said the rebate will boost the company’s earnings to share – the measure by which annual bonuses and long-term share rewards are calculated. This could mean multi-million pound bonuses for chief executive Ian King, US chief Linda Hudson and finance director Peter Lynas, according to the report.