Rachel Reeves ‘to give go-ahead’ for £1bn military helicopter deal
Rachel Reeves is to approve a £1bn deal to build military helicopters in Yeovil, saving about 3,000 manufacturing jobs, according to reports.The chancellor is expected to sign a contract with Leonardo – the Italian owner of the former Westland factory in Yeovil, Somerset – to build the new battlefield helicopters, after months of speculation as to whether the historical site would survive.Workers had feared the company would follow through on threats to close the facility at the end of March if the government failed to place an order for new helicopters in time.Leonardo was the only bidder for the UK’s £1bn “new medium helicopter” contract that was launched in February 2024, after the US aerospace company Lockheed Martin and Europe’s Airbus pulled out.The new aircraft will replace the Royal Air Force’s ageing fleet of Puma helicopters, which had been in service since the 1970s.
The decision to agree the contract, first reported by the Financial Times, came just before Leonardo’s offer was set to expire on Sunday,The contract decision appeared to come after a last-minute reversal from the Treasury,A source with knowledge of the matter said that even until early Friday afternoon, it had appeared the contract would be rejected,John Healey, the defence secretary, was even forced to cancel a trip to the Yeovil factory on Thursday, they said, amid last-minute uncertainty over whether the Treasury would approve the deal,By Friday afternoon, Treasury officials were saying the chancellor would give it the green light.
“Rachel cares about keeping the country safe and driving jobs in the UK because our security and economic growth are fundamentally connected,” one told the FT.The Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said the contract was “a tremendous victory for Unite members in Yeovil and across the aerospace sector”.She added: “However, it took way too long to get this done, and we still have to question why workers were left in the dark until the 11th hour.”It had faced repeated delays as the Ministry of Defence tussled with a huge funding gap, which has also held up the publication of a key military spending plan that was due last year.Manufacturers have become increasingly frustrated with the wait for the defence investment plan (DIP), which will show how the government will fund its strategic defence review, the blueprint for transforming the UK military amid growing threats from Russia and rising commitments to Nato.
An MoD spokesperson said: “The UK’s new medium helicopter programme is ongoing and no final procurement decisions have yet been made.That outcome will be confirmed in due course.”In November, Leonardo’s chief executive, Roberto Cingolani, told investors he was negotiating with the MoD to try “to boost the collaboration with the UK government”, while in December he wrote to the defence secretary, John Healey, and threatened to scrap all investment in Britain.At the time, Cingolani described the new medium helicopter contract as “a cornerstone” of the Italian company’s UK strategy and added: “Any delay or cancellation in the programme award … would force a re-evaluation of Leonardo’s UK presence, including investment in electronics and cybersecurity divisions.”Leonardo declined to comment.
Investment in AI-resistant ‘Halo’ companies helps push UK and EU markets to record highs
Investors have a new mantra as they prepare for AI to shake up the global economy – the Halo trade.Interest in Halo – short for “heavy assets, low obsolescence” - has risen as investors seek out companies with tangible, productive assets, which might be insulated from AI disruption, such as energy and transport infrastructure companies.While US mega-cap tech companies have had a rough start to 2026, the Halo trade helped to push UK and EU stock markets to record levels by the end of February.Goldman Sachs reported this week that its basket of more than 100 big-spending companies had outperformed a similar grouping of capital-light firms by 35% since 2025, as “asset intensity becomes a key driver of valuations and returns”.“After more than a decade of under‑investment (particularly in Europe), corporates are shifting decisively back toward physical assets,” Goldman analysts told clients
Square Mile strikes back: how the City of London is fighting disinformation about crime
“Just visit London and you’ll see that it’s filled with crime,” the tech billionaire Elon Musk said as he was beamed into Tommy Robinson’s far-right rally in the UK capital last September.The comments by the SpaceX and Tesla boss, part of a roving speech that was later condemned by the UK government, added to a growing wave of anti-London disinformation that has spread in recent months. That includes Donald Trump’s notorious comments of London “no-go zones” and Nigel Farage’s warnings against wearing jewellery after 9pm in the West End.But the panic over antisocial behaviour and petty crime plaguing the capital has burst out of rightwing circles and social media platforms and into City boardrooms and diplomatic meetings, raising the hackles of state officials and influential financial sector bosses who fear that, if left unchecked, trade, recruitment and business investment could suffer.“Nobody’s saying ‘it means that I won’t invest in the City’,” said Susan Langley, the City of London’s mayor
OpenAI to work with Pentagon after Anthropic dropped by Trump over company’s ethics concerns
OpenAI said it had struck a deal with the Pentagon to supply AI to classified US military networks, hours after Donald Trump ordered the government to stop using the services of one of the company’s main competitors.Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, announced the move on Friday night. It came after an agreement between Anthropic, a rival AI company that runs the Claude system, and the Trump administration broke down after Anthropic sought assurances its technology would not be used for mass surveillance – nor for autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input.Announcing the deal, Altman insisted that OpenAI’s agreement with the government included assurances that it would not be used to those ends.“Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems,” Altman wrote on X
Suicide forum found to be in breach of Online Safety Act after failing to block UK users
A suicide forum linked to deaths in Britain has been ruled provisionally in breach of the Online Safety Act after it failed to properly block access to UK users when ordered to do so last year.Ofcom, the online regulator, said it could now apply to the courts to demand internet service providers block access to the site in the UK. This will depend on how the site, which also faces fines, responds over the next 10 days.Coroners had been raising concerns about the links between the forum and suicides in the UK since at least 2019, campaigners said. The family of 17-year-old Vlad Nikolin-Caisley, from Southampton, said he took his own life in 2024 after using the site, which Ofcom is not naming
Australia v India: third women’s one-day cricket international – live
Thanks Megan. That’s not a score, that’s a colossus. If India are to have a prayer of chasing it, they’ll need to go for it right away, so we’ll in for some early action if that’s the case. The far more likely scenario is that they’ll get nowhere near it, given that conceding such a score is a flattening experience. Let’s see if Smriti Mandhana can get on one of her rolls
Leeds’ Maika Sivo stars in demolition of Hull KR in Las Vegas
Hull KR may well be rugby league’s newly crowned world champions but on the biggest stage the sport can provide its superstar athletes, it was Leeds Rhinos who produced their very best in Las Vegas to absolutely dismantle the Super League champions in spectacular fashion.A week on from stunning NRL premiers Brisbane Broncos to win the World Club Challenge for the first time, the Robins headed Stateside keen to put on another show to further enhance their burgeoning reputation as one of rugby league’s great sides. But the Super League champions were ultimately humbled by one of their main title rivals.Whether Rovers were fatigued from their exploits against the Broncos last week is a discussion for another day. But whatever the reason, there is no doubting they were second best here against a Leeds side fast becoming their kryptonite
Harrods faces legal action over £1-a-head dining charge not going to staff
Paramount Skydance wins Warner Bros Discovery bid after Netflix walks away from deal
OpenAI announces $110bn funding round that would value firm at $840bn
Instagram to alert parents if teens repeatedly search self-harm terms
Formula One to revise controversial rule at centre of Mercedes engine row
Oleksandr Usyk to defend title against kickboxer at Pyramids of Giza in Egypt