Burnham urged to award £2.4bn military satellite contract to Airbus over US rival

Unite union leader says giving Skynet 6 WSS contract to Lockheed Martin would be a ‘massive mistake’ Business live – latest updates One of the Labour party’s biggest union backers has called for Andy Burnham to award a £2.4bn military satellite contract to the European manufacturer Airbus rather than a US rival, Lockheed Martin, amid concerns that as many as 600 jobs may be at risk. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite union, said it would be a “massive mistake” to go for a US company over Airbus, which is headquartered in France but designs and builds satellites in Stevenage in Hertfordshire and Portsmouth in Hampshire. Continue reading...