In July 2016 the Tory Government announced a $2.3 billion deal to purchase Apache helicopters from the USA. At the time, Joe Conway (Unite representative at Leonardo and former Yeovil Labour Party Chairman) denounced this decision as not considering the true cost of sending this work abroad. This is work that could be carried out here in Yeovil supporting our economy and securing jobs for workers based in Somerset.
Yeovil Labour Party does not believe this decision was made in the best interests of the people of Yeovil or the wider UK economy. We want to ensure that when money is spent acquiring assets for the UK that money is spent in the UK.
Yeovil Labour Party has put forward a motion to the national Labour conference which states: We at Yeovil Constituency Labour Party deplore this Tory government awarding a major helicopter contract to the Boeing Corporation; undermining British security and defence jobs. We call upon future Labour governments to honour the hard work of Yeovil in supporting the Ministry of Defence in many quality deliveries, fulfilling their defence contracts. The industry is the life blood of Yeovil and the people of Yeovil require job security and security of community support. As other political parties have failed to do this for Yeovil we call upon Labour, as the Workers’ party, to provide this protection. Future helicopter development should involve working with European partners and be based in Yeovil, protecting British security.
Terry Ledlie, Labour’s County Council candidate for Yeovil South Ward, said “it makes sense to secure jobs in Yeovil, with people who pay UK taxes and a company that also pays tax in the UK. Why should the UK tax-payer be contributing to Boeing’s profits at the expense of Somerset’s economy? Yeovil Labour Party is committed to supporting the local economy.”
Please contact us via https://www.facebook.com/YeovilLabourParty to join the Labour Party and help shape the future of politics and deliver a fairer Britain for the next generation.”
For further information please contact:
Gail Freeman-Bell, Yeovil CLP Press Officer. Tel. 07838 117774