Lord West of Spithead
Main Page: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Lord Popat
I agree with my noble friend, and we are proud of it. We are making things again in the United Kingdom. This is excellent news for the future security of skilled workers and for our economy. Manufacturing is one of the two sectors able to drive productivity growth across the economy through cross-sectoral supply chain linkages. That means potential economic benefits at every stage of the manufacture of a product, from the beginning of an idea to its development and production, through the supply chain to eventual consumer use. The Government are proud of the steps we have taken to support and advise the manufacturing sector. However, we know there is more we need to do.
Lord West of Spithead (Lab)
My Lords, one of the greatest successes we have had is defence manufacturing exports. Is the Minister not concerned that, on an Apache order, we are going for a non-competitive purchase of something from a foreign nation, rather than competing and giving a British firm a chance to do that work?
Lord Popat
My Lords, the department, through UKTI, is pursuing actively the sale of more defence equipment abroad but, when it comes to buying equipment for UK security, it is up to the Ministry of Defence to make those decisions. There must have been a business case to secure defence equipment from abroad.