How Typhoon jet deal with Turkey is a major win for Scotland

When Russian attack drones crossed into Poland last month, it was Typhoons I ordered to defend Nato’s skies. From deterring Russian aggression in Europe to defeating terrorists in the Middle East and protecting the UK homeland, these aircraft – and the people who build them – make Britain safer.

And just as Typhoons defend our national security, they sustain 800 high-skilled, well-paid jobs here in Scotland. Yesterday, those jobs were guaranteed for years to come through a major £8 billion defence deal that Keir Starmer and I signed with Türkiye. All told, 20,000 defence workers across the UK whose jobs are kept secure by this deal.

This agreement – the biggest British Typhoon export order for almost 20 years, the biggest in a generation – deepens years of defence co-operation between Britain and Türkiye, one of our important Nato allies. Under this multi-billion-pound deal, workers in Scotland will help build up to 20 new Typhoon aircraft.

As well as making Britain’s workers more secure, this deal makes us all safer. Türkiye is central to UK and European security interests, it acts as a gatekeeper to the Black Sea.

By equipping its Air Force with a fleet of top-of-the-range fighter jets, we strengthen Nato. And I know this community takes pride in knowing that every jet built here will bolster our collective deterrence and ensure the skies above Europe remain safe and free.

This Typhoon agreement with Türkiye follows fast on the heels of the UK’s biggest ever warship deal. The Type 26 frigate contract with Norway added billions to Britain’s economy, guaranteed thousands of jobs and marked the birth of a new joint fleet of submarine hunters to protect Nato’s northern flank.

Taken together, the Türkiye fighter jet and Norway warship deals demonstrate that when Britain exports defence capabilities to our Allies, we not only strengthen our security abroad, but create high-skilled jobs at home.

Boosting Britain’s defence exports means a big boost to Britain’s economy. That’s why our government has launched this new drive for defence deals, and is backing British defence businesses to go out and win more contracts around the world. It will mean jobs for our people, security for our Allies and pride for our nation.

As this Typhoon contract proves, defence is an engine for economic growth. Our government committed the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War. We are determined that this investment produces a ‘defence dividend’ measured in jobs, apprenticeships and opportunity in every region and nation of the UK. In the years ahead, more and more communities will share in the benefits of this historic uplift in defence spending.

This surge in Typhoon production will strengthen Nato, generate a multi-billion-pound boost to Britain’s defence industrial base and give long-term confidence to 20,000 workers across the UK. It is a win for European security, a win for the British economy and a win for the people of Scotland.

- John Healey is the UK defence secretary