Ex-defence secretary Shapps criticised as he is cleared to join missiles start-up | Grant Shapps

The parliamentary standards organ was criticized for a former Conservative Defense Secretary Grant Shapps to participate in a defense attempt as long as he promised not to work on defense issues.

Drew Drew, one of the political ethical experts who watched the doner gate between Westminster and the business sector, is a descending decision of Drew Drew, the Cambridge Aerospace Chairman of the Shapps.

Shapps said to ACOBA that the company, which was established three months after the general election defeat of the conservatives, is planning to “develop technologies to reduce aviation risks”. Explanations show that they show examples such as airport delays caused by drones.

ACOBA, who should be scrapped because of allegations that it was “toothless”, acknowledged that he could provide “strategic direction and high -level recommendation, provided that he did not work on defense -related issues.

As ACOBA defines the activities of the Shapps Cambridge Aerospace, it is understood that the company’s work is “focusing on civil aviation and space ,, that is, there is no direct overlap with the former defense minister’s access to sensitive information.

Workers’ deputy Phil Brickell, this statement Cambridge Aerospace’nin own public opinion statements and supporters “increased reliability”, he said.

The company attracted approximately 100 million dollars ($ 73.9 million) in financing and stated its plans in a presentation to investors, First reported by the new one And then it is obtained by Guardian.

The slides in the presentation define Cambridge Aerospace as a “Defense Technology” company and express the need to prepare a “new war era”.

Talking to Bloomberg last monthCambridge Aerospace’s founding partner and for a long time Shapps Prof. Steven Barrett said that the company is a “task ..

This was “to protect our Britain and our allies from the well -known threats we encountered from the heavens”.

The first product of the company, the first product of the company, aims to cut drones and cruise missiles and leads to comparisons with Israel’s Iron Dome Missile Defense System.

It is understood that technology initially aims to resist the drones and expands to defense against threats, including ballistic and hypersonic missiles. The company plans to operate from an engineering field in Munich and a production center in the city of Gdansk, Poland.

Barrett’s founding partner Chris Sylvan worked for Anduril, a California -based defense company, which has previously developed what he described as a “robot fighter aircraft ında in an article in Linkedin, Sylvan’s professional social network platform. The shipment is no longer available.

Shapps served as a defense secretary between August 2023 and July 2024, which is a two -year candidate period in which former ministers should apply to ACOBA if they want to take on the private sector roles.

The system is designed to ensure that ministers and new employers do not benefit from the information or contacts obtained from the government’s time unjustly. Acoba can only advise on appointments, but in practice, unlike the equivalent body that can veto their appointments in France, there is no power to block them.

In his advice to Shapps, Acoba said the risk of conflict of interest was “limited ..

“Although you will have a wide range of information surveillance about the policy, operations and issues that affect the defense in general, there is no direct overlapping with your access to sensitive information because it focuses on civil aviation and space,” he said.

Earlier this year, Keir Starmer promised to replace ACOBA with a harder control and balance system to monitor the private gains of the ministers after leaving the post.

Brickell said ACOBA’s advice to Shapps was “another example” why the Worker was saved from ACOBA.

“Weak, they have no teeth and there is no power to prevent conflicts of interest,” he said.

“Grant Shapps seems to say something about what to do, while the company says something else. It increases the reliability to the breaking point. Authorities need to look again and should resign from this article if Shapps cannot give satisfactory answers.”

The campaign group transparency international spokesman said: “The supervision of this doner door is based on any way more than gentlemen agreements in the application of the work appointment rules.

“The rules regulating the former ministers entering the private sector will invite abuse until they are tightened and appropriately applied.”

Shapps said: “I joined the Cambridge Aerospace because I always believed in the importance of protecting our civil airspace – he witnessed the destruction of 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.”

ACOBA spokesman, for two years to not enter the defense issues to the Shapps recommended the advice.

“The Committee also has also taken into account that as a qualified pilot since 1995, Mr. Shapps has a long -term interest in aviation, which was indifferent to the time spent in the ministry office,” he added.

Barrett said: “We have developed a series of products in less than a year since the establishment of Cambridge Aerospace, we 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.