ADAM Dance, MP for Yeovil and South Somerset, visited the Farnborough Air show with Leonardo to show support to a major employer in his constituency.

Leonardo is bidding for a UK government contract to provide new medium helicopters, with a decision expected to be announced in the following months.

Mr Dance is asking for a swift decision, and for Leonardo to be given full consideration due to their skills and infrastructure. These skills can provide a ‘Made in Britain’ helicopter to the UK Armed forces.

He highlights retaining a UK-based helicopter design, development, manufacturing and support capability is invaluable to our forces.

"I expect, and will ask the new Labour Government to ensure the forthcoming contract for the New Medium Helicopter is awarded on merit to our only UK-based helicopter company [Leonardo],” Mr Dance said.

He stated that Leonardo holds long term value, providing support and maintenance and added that many constituent jobs depend on Leonardo and associated companies.

Mr Dance also drew upon the fact that the economy as a whole benefits from the company by having a “thriving UK-wide helicopter supply chain, as well as the potential for substantial overseas exports.”

Finally, he stated that he will be making a case for new UK government awarded contracts to stay in the UK in order to support “our full range of helicopter capabilities and our operational independence for generations to come”.

He said that without this, we run the risk of having full dependency on overseas support.