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MPs must be given BAE vote to decide if it's in the national interest, says former defence minister
BAE is in merger talks with Franco-German aviation giant EADS
Gerald Howarth has said the potential deal should be debated by MPs

Paris and Berlin must not be allowed to gain control of the UK's biggest defence firm, he said

By Tim Shipman, Deputy Political Editor
PUBLISHED: 00:09, 3 October 2012 | UPDATED: 00:10, 3 October 2012

Gerald Howarth: The former defence minister said MPs must be allowed to debate the potential merger
The potential merger of BAE with Franco-German aviation giant EADS should be delayed so Parliament can discuss whether it is in the national interest, a former defence minister said yesterday.
Gerald Howarth, who was minister for security strategy until last month�s reshuffle, said the Government must not allow Paris and Berlin to gain control of the UK�s biggest defence firm.

BAE is in merger talks to gain a foothold in the European defence and civil aircraft markets.

But MPs are concerned that the �30billion deal would hand France and Germany at least a 9 per cent share each in the new company.

Mr Howarth said there were potential commercial advantages for BAE by diversifying outside the defence market.

But he said MPs must be allowed to debate and block any attempt to create a merged company which would give foreign governments the power to close British defence plants and lay off British workers.

The two companies are expected to make a statement on their plans to the stock market on October 10.
More...Aerospace predator poised to take over BAE made �3bn in the UK... and paid just �10m in tax

Mr Howarth said: �There has to be an extension. It�s not acceptable that the Government could make decisions alone where there are 100,000 jobs at stake.�

He added: �Politically it will be unsellable to Parliament for the French and German governments to have a large stake in the new company.

�We can�t possibly have a company, our major defence contractor, with those governments as its shareholders deciding where to invest its money.�
'National interest': The Government must not allow Paris and Berlin to gain control of the UK's biggest defence firm, Mr Howarth said
The Government is locked in talks with the French, Germans and the two companies in a bid to limit the size of their share in the new company.

Downing Street has been spooked by proposals to let the French and German governments acquire further shares in the future.

EADS chief executive Tom Enders sought to reassure critics concerned about the potential for large redundancies by saying the deal was not about �slashing thousands of jobs�.

This is a no brainer. Of course this is not in the national interest. Do we want our major companies ending up in the hands of the Germans and the French? Again this is the Europhile agenda - no more sovereign states, rather a dictatorship from the EU, where we will have no say in our futures

Eurocopter, Spain is part of EADS. Cheap Spanish labour, plenty of unempkoyed engineering staff, watch as the work is funneled their way whilst BAE is asset stripped and then closed down. The UK government will then have to buy military aeronautics and defence contracts from the Germans and French. I really think that Britain is teetering on the edge of something big, socio-politically speaking. The next elections will be fascinating. Will the sheep just vote as they always do? Will the big two parties ramp up the lies and false promises higher than ever before? Or will people actually think, before they cast their vote?

2Anne · Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 399 Location: Norfolk

This takeover bid by Germany and France is an absolute disgrace and should be blocked by government. Once in the bag BAE will be mothballed and all the contracts transferred to France and Germany.
We have engineering expertise and its important that we retain an aerospace industry for defence. This aggressive takeover MUST be stopped.