Ex-defence secretary allowed to work for missiles start-up – as long as he avoids defence matters
As long as Sir Grant Shapps promised not to work on defense -related issues, the parliament’s standards observer was cleaned to participate in a defense attempt.
In a movement criticized by MPs and experts, the former defense secretary was allowed to become the president of Cambridge Aerospace.
He was given to him by the Advisory Committee (ACOBA).
Sir Grant told the company that was established after the conservatives left their post and will “develop technologies to reduce aviation risks”.
Acoba allowed him to offer “strategic direction and high -level advice ,, but he said he could not work on defense issues.
Labor Deputy Phil Brickell Guardian Watchdog’s situation was “increasing reliability” considering Cambridge Aerospace’s own statements in public and supporters.
The beginning raised millions of pounds after a presentation that describes it as a “defense technology” company and summarizes the need to prepare for a “new war era”.
His first product was compared with Israel’s iron dome missile defense system, called Skyhammer, and aims to cut drones and driving missiles.
The founding partner also said Prof Steven Barrett Bloomberg The company had a “duty olmak to protect our Britain and our allies from the well -known threats we encountered from the heavens”.
Sir Grant was the defense secretary from August 2023 to the general election in July 2024, which meant that he had to resort to ACOBA approval to undertake the role.
ACOBA’s aim is to prevent unjustly benefiting from the information obtained by ministers and private companies employees in the government.
For Sir Grant, he identified a “limited yeri conflict of interest:“ Although you will have a wide range of information about policies, operations and issues that affect defense in general, there is no direct overlapping with your access to sensitive information because this work focuses on civil aviation. ”
Sir Keir Starmer promised to scrape Acoba after the criticism of “toothless, and the Prime Minister replaced it with a new Ethical and Integrity Commission formed from the Standards Committee in Public Life.
Sir Grant told Guardian: “I joined the Cambridge Aerospace because I have always believed in the importance of protecting our civil airspace – only witnessing the destruction caused by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
“As the company grows, there are threats faced by our nation. Our mission is to develop technology that can save lives, strengthen England and allied security and create high -skilled British works. I am proud to be a founding partner in a job dedicated to these goals.”
“If some can help save lives in Ukraine, then this would be a very good news,” he added.
Prof Barrett added: “In less than a year since the establishment of Cambridge Aerospace, we have developed a series of products, rented approximately 60 people to high -skilled engineering roles and continued to invest in full domestic production significantly.
“As we have seen in Ukraine, the need to protect against a series of threats targeting anything from infrastructure to civilian population is increasing.
