THOUSANDS of Lancashire workers may face a summer of agonising uncertainty after a cabinet split between Defence Secretary Michael Portillo and Chancellor Kenneth Clarke over the award of £3.5 billion worth of defence contracts.

Hopes of a decision before the summer recess seemed dashed today with news that the two are so far apart that Prime Minister John Major has asked his deputy, Michael Heseltine to step in and adjudicate.

And even worse, there is a chance that orders for some equipment may be cancelled completely.

These orders are vital to British Aerospace with its military aircraft division at Samlesbury and Warton bidding for the £2 billion Nimrod contract and its Lostock factory bidding for the missile work.

Parliament breaks up today. But the last chance will come tomorrow when the issue will be thrashed out in a cabinet meeting.

However, there are no promises of an early resolution, and if top Tories still fail to agree, it could be weeks before a decision is taken.

So while the Government fiddles, thousands of workers at British Aerospace and associated industries are left wondering whether they will still have a job when current contracts finish.

This situation is appalling.

Such uncertainty only serves to further slow down this region's economy and drain our skills pool as workers find jobs in other parts of the country.

There is no reason for this delay.

Our front-line troops are coping with ageing and obsolete equipment, and it should have been obvious that replacements would be needed.

With this in mind, budgeting should have begun years ago.

This Government has been in power long enough to have managed resources over a period of years.

It is ridiculous for Mr Clarke to suddenly say the country cannot afford to spend on something as vital as defence.

Less than a week ago, this newspaper highlighted the very real concerns of union leaders over delays.

Leaders at British Aerospace were worried the Government was "playing politics with people's jobs by creating uncertainty among the workforce".

But could the real reason go even deeper?

With a general election looming, could Mr Clarke be piling cash into his coffers to fund electoral bribes?

Surely not. Surely he cannot believe the British public would fall for that one.

After all, income tax cuts are no use if there is no wage coming in.

Tomorrow there will be one last chance to resolve this issue before it drags on into the autumn.

Hopefully, Mr Clarke and Mr Portillo can reach some agreement. Otherwise they may not be in a position to take any decisions after the next election

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.