New Medium Helicopter Contract

Lord Evans of Rainow Excerpts

Wednesday 14th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

We are having conversations with Leonardo; we have been talking to it for a considerable period. Those discussions go on. All I am saying to the noble Lord, Lord Fox, and to the noble Baroness is that the final decision with respect to Leonardo and the new medium helicopter will be made as part of the defence investment plan. She will have to wait for the outcome of that for final decisions to be announced.

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My Lords, further to the point about the supply chain, is the noble Lord aware that when these small and medium-sized enterprises and family companies try to get finance to invest in the machinery required, some financial institutions see investing in companies providing services for defence as a negative? They are seen as immoral. Is the noble Lord aware of that? What can be done to reassure financial institutions that investing in the defence of the realm is exactly the right thing to do?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

That is a really important point; let me just broaden it. It is not just financial institutions: we still sometimes read of universities not welcoming defence industries on to their campuses and recruitment fairs not welcoming defence industries. If the threats we face become real then everyone will being saying, “Why didn’t the Government do something about it?” We need to ensure that we support all our defence industry, whether small, medium or large companies, so that they can recruit and do what they need to do to deliver the capabilities that our Armed Forces and our country need. Those financial institutions need to wake up to the threat environment in which they are operating.