UK Defense Funding Delay Threatens Key Leonardo Site, Union Says

Leonardo SpA’s British helicopter factory will close if UK funding delays prevent a contract with the Italian manufacturer before March, union leaders said in a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, showing how the government’s failure to commit cash is throwing plans for a revamped defense sector in doubt.

Postponing the UK’s Defence Investment Plan until March or later will cause skilled workers to leave Leonardo’s Yeovil site and increase dependence on foreign defense suppliers, senior Unite the Union representatives, including Ben Clarke, Steve McGuinness and Jed Ellis, wrote in the letter published on Tuesday.