UK-Türkiye Typhoon Export Deal

Markus Campbell-Savours Excerpts

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for championing his workforce. One of the things that makes this House stand in contrast with some other places around the world is that we can, on a cross-party basis, support our defence industry and the people who are working hard to keep our nation safe, including those who work at GE Aerospace. I will be happy to work with him to thank not just his constituents, but all those in the supply chain who have made such a big difference to securing this deal. I also thank all those people working in sub-prime areas—not in one of the large defence companies—without whom we would not be able to produce the cutting-edge capabilities that our armed forces and our allies rely on. Millions of parts go into each of those platforms and every single one is important. Without them, we would not be able to fly those Typhoons, so the contribution of companies big and small is so important.

[Markus Campbell-Savours (Penrith and Solway) (Lab)]

Many UK manufacturers are part of international groups and have the opportunity to transfer UK-generated profits to overseas entities via internal pricing mechanisms and management fees. Can the Minister confirm whether those profit-shifting mechanisms are assessed and dissuaded as part of UK defence procurement practices?

[Luke Pollard]

I suspect that I will need to meet my hon. Friend to get to the bottom of that question, but I am very happy to do so. As a nation, we certainly welcome the investment of overseas firms in the UK. The UK is a good place to invest in defence and to start a defence company. We need to make sure that all our contracts, big and small, return the value to the taxpayer. It is our intention that, where possible, intellectual property and profits should be held in the UK to support our growth mission. I am happy to meet him to discuss that further.