Robin Southwell, ADS Dinner.

Introduction.

Good evening Ministers, Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. It’s a great honour to be speaking tonight as your new President of ADS; I take your trust in me and my commitment to deliver for you very much to heart.

I could not start without due deference as today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.  To give you an early taste of what I wish to say tonight I quote from David Copperfield “it’s in vain to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present”.

Well, we have today serious work to do and here tonight we have important matters to engage upon.  It is important that your organisation ADS represent your thoughts and ambitions – particularly during these most difficult of times and, to that end, I have some key issues for your reflection.

Indeed all of us here tonight have been given a great honour: the honour of acting as custodians for one of, perhaps the most, important industrial sectors comprising four distinct elements, Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space here in the United Kingdom. 
•	A sector built from the dedication, vision and hard work of successive generations of brilliant engineers.
•	That plays an unequalled role in creating jobs, exports and economic growth for this country.
•	And must be husbanded by us all here in this room during extreme turbulence and handed over to our next generations in fine shape to allow our successors and future engineers to support this industry and contribute to our country’s wellbeing.

Right now, that worthy premise is far from certain.

And the biggest threat is our own inability to resolve a number of clear issues before us, such as:-
1.	 The skills shortages that we are already acutely aware of and that is likely to get worse.
2.	The lack of sufficient investment in the long term R&D projects that must underpin our futures.

3.	And the absence of the kind of easy partnership with the Government that will encourage job creation, generate economic growth and enhance our sovereign independence.

We support our nation’s policies, we connect lives and we protect lives. That’s one hell of a responsibility, and one which I know each of you here tonight does not accept lightly.
•	So I’m not going to make light of it.
•	And we are not going to let this industry lose momentum on our watch. 
•	Not when I know that we - can do something about it and can make the difference

You are here tonight because you have an interest in and care passionately about the future of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space in the United Kingdom.
•	Our job in ADS is to turn that energy and dedication into a narrative that provides a sector leadership agenda, cohesion and momentum befitting your ambitions. 
•	And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is just exactly what we intend to achieve.

Lets start by briefly reflecting upon our heritage

This is the nation that has aviation, aerodynamics, defence, security and space in its bloodline; in our DNA.  We are the nation that built:
•	The Lancaster, under whose wings carried twice the payload of any other aircraft during the second world war.
•	And just eleven years after taking to the skies, saw the first flight of the revolutionary and awe-inspiring Vulcan – whose delta wing literally changed the shape of our industry.
•	The Lynx, with its blade technology, has held the record for the world’s fastest conventional helicopter, for more than 25 years.
•	…or think Concorde or the iconic Harrier, which is only now being superseded in the technology stakes after 40 years.

This is the nation where every Rolls Royce engine and every set of Airbus wings cuts fuel burn, emissions and noise – delivering British engineering excellence to the world - the veritable engine room for our admission to the global economy. 

This is the sector:
•	That supports over a million highly skilled UK jobs and £22 billion in exports.
•	Whose SMEs have responded magnificently to the needs of our Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
•	That, for each job in Airbus, creates 10 jobs in the supply chain and supports ten more elsewhere, a statistic which, I am sure, is representative of all of our primes.
•	And that with spill-over benefits, every £100 million invested is actually an investment worth more than twice that to the UK economy as a whole.

This is the sector that brings the world to Farnborough for an aerospace gathering unrivalled anywhere in the world. Where in 2012 they will discover 300 innovative companies, nearly a quarter of which will be exhibiting for the first time, with 40% of those new attendees being vital British SMEs. 

Choke-points.

And this - this Ladies and Gentlemen, is a golden opportunity for us if we choose to floor the accelerator. But and it is a big but, it’s one that is choking if we are not extremely careful
•	Because if skills are a pre-requisite of growth then we must reluctantly note that there are only 1,250 full time aerospace engineering university degree places for UK students offered this year,
•	Because for every £1 we spend on R&D France spends €10 and Germany €15.
•	And because we don’t have a clear proactive national strategy, with clearly appointed champions to drive it.  

I note that our competitors do enjoy joined up aerospace and defence industry strategies and if we don’t, then by default, we will adopt theirs.

So this is an opportunity which could be lost, but which could also so be driven faster and further with an easy, productive partnership between a sector that demonstrably supports this nation’s ambition and the Government that leads it.

And this plea is not a euphemism for yet another trade body simply stretching its hand out for money.  Let me give you an example of where we are now and what more could be achieved through working together.  The Farnborough Airshow represents this nation and our industry’s prime opportunity to set our stall out to the world – I have mentioned earlier how vibrant and successful this ADS activity is proving itself to be in the teeth of a recession and resultant global uncertainty.  

Our close European exhibition competitors are of course German - who are understandably receiving significant State investment for the Berlin Airshow as it seeks to truly establish itself and of course France, with Le Bourget which is always formally opened by the President of France. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, as of today we still await confirmation of attendance from any Senior Cabinet Minister.

Whilst I am in no doubt that later, at some point, that matter will be addressed, rather than living with such uncertainty, why are we not already discussing – with certainty - how, say, we could get the entire Cabinet to attend our Airshow, and further, have that Cabinet hold a formal Cabinet meeting in say the cabin of an A380 at the show?

Special.

Let me give you another example and probably the most extreme so as to reinforce why doing little is not an option.

On 19 March 2011, as he left an emergency meeting of World Leaders, The British Prime Minister announced:
•	that it: “is absolutely clear that Gaddafi has broken his word, broken the ceasefire and continues to slaughter his own civilians. This has to stop. We have to make it stop.”

Just the following day on March 20th, Robert Gates the then US Secretary of Defence said “We will have a military role in the coalition.  But we will not have the preeminent role”.

While other nations remained cautious and I pause to recognise the important contribution of our French friends, the British Government knew what had to be done and that it had the means to do it. So it was British forces, using British planes armed with British missiles, that protected the Libyan people when they most needed us. 

To that end I would like to acknowledge two very special guests this evening. 
•	Steve Wadey, who is the Managing Director of MBDA – Steve made the missiles - and Group Captain Martin Sampson – he’s the one who fired them – who deployed over Libya as the 906 Expeditionary Air Warfare Commander on Operation Ellamy, and is now Typhoon Force Commander and RAF Coningsby Station Commander.
•	We couldn’t fit everybody who made the Libya operation such as success into this room. 
•	So on behalf of them all, gentlemen, please can you just quickly stand up so that we can thank you properly for your great work. [LEAD APPLAUSE]

But, Ladies and Gentlemen, whilst the decision that enabled our forces to give the Libyan people back their country was taken on 19 March 2011, the ability to enforce that decision was formed 30 years ago.

•	Without that R&D investment back in 1970s and 1980s, there wouldn’t have been any British Tornados or Typhoons to fly the missions and dominate Libyan airspace…

•	There wouldn’t have been any Brimstone or Storm Shadow missiles to fire…
•	We also wouldn’t have had the astonishingly versatile nuclear attack submarines able to loiter undetected for months at a time off an enemy’s coast, hoovering up intelligence data…
(And as an aside, none of the products or programmes were acquired by the MOD off-the-shelf.)
•	…and we wouldn’t have the cyber or crypto expertise to turn this data into battle-winning knowledge or to protect our own nation’s data, institutions and vital assets… 
•	Without that foresight and an industry strategy to focus such investment, we might not have delivered the accuracy that was so essential to Operation Ellamy’s outstanding success.

And without that brave decision by David Cameron, the outcome for the Libyan people and the sovereign capability of the British Government to best act in our national interest would have been necessarily constrained. 

CONCLUSION.

So, the next time you are challenged as to why this sector is, or should be, treated any differently; just remind them of those facts. 

It’s not just the job creation. Or even the economic growth. No.

It’s because one hundred years after the formation of the Royal Flying Corps, our industry here present:

•	Provides the United Kingdom with the sovereign capability to direct its own moral compass and take its own decisions. 
•	Permits the Government of the day the power to act as the British people see fit.
•	Maintains our industrial competitiveness and position in the world
•	And contributes to this country to make its contribution towards leading the world out of recession and uncertainty.

That’s why we matter. 

That’s why we are proud of what we do. 

And that’s why the governments should be right alongside us: 
•	reducing that skills gap, 
•	investing in R&D;
•	and committing to a true partnership.

And towards drawing a conclusion to my speech, I must return to Dickens with again from David Copperfield “my advice is never do tomorrow what you can do today.  Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him”.

You would all agree I hope when I say that on our watch we must secure the heritage of our predecessors and sustain the foundations for our future generations.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have work to do.

Our guest of honour this evening:  the Right Honourable David Willets MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science.