RIBBLE Valley MP Nigel Evans has stressed the vital importance of British orders for Lancashire's aerospace industry to the Government.
And speaking in the Commons, Mr Evans urged the Ministry of Defence not only to look at price when placing major orders.
"The Ministry has to ensure it takes proper account of the effect on local industries and the national economy if orders are placed solely on a cheap price. "For example, the Nimrod order will benefit our area for up to the next thirty years bringing in literally billions of pounds."
And Mr Evans highlighted the work of the Clayton-le-Moors based Consortium of Lancashire Aerospace.
"There are 127 companies in the Consortium ranging from GEC Marconi right down to smaller companies with as few as five or six employees.
"But perhaps, even more importantly, for every job directly created when an order is placed there are two or three more created in the service industries as spin-offs."
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