Starmer hopes £8bn Typhoon jet deal with Turkey is ‘not a one-off’

Sir Keir Starmer said the UK will build on the £8 billion deal to sell 20 Typhoon jets to Turkey from 2030 to ensure it “isn’t just a one-off order”.

The Prime Minister praised workers at jet production firm BAE Systems in Warton on Tuesday, a day after signing the agreement during a visit to Ankara.

He said: “Thank you for the work that you are doing on behalf of our country.

“Thank you for your time. This morning, I intend to build on this with you so that this isn’t just a one-off order.

“It’s one of a series of orders that we get from Warton, and we can go not just back to where we were, but beyond where we were with our capabilities.”

He said it was “the biggest order we’ve had in the best part of a generation, £8 billion, 20,000 jobs in all, including, of course, most importantly, 6,000 or 7,000 here and in the North West”.

Sir Keir highlighted that “we’re competing against the world” for such orders and that “we signed that deal because you’re world class”.

He also said the deal represented a boost for Nato security, saying: “The great thing about the Typhoons with Turkey is, we’re the top end of Europe, if you like, they’re the south-eastern flank, and by having the same capability, it’s now interoperable.

“And, therefore, we can work more closely with Turkey in the Nato alliance. So this is about Typhoons and building Typhoons, it’s about the United Kingdom and our defence and security, but it’s also a massive contribution to Nato as we go forward with shared capability.”

The agreement is the largest fighter jet deal in almost 20 years and the first new order for UK Typhoons since 2017, helping support thousands of British jobs.

Monday’s deal represents the conclusion of long-running discussions, with Ankara reported to have been seeking to buy Typhoons since 2023.

In July, Defence Secretary John Healey signed a memorandum of understanding with his Turkish counterpart paving the way for the export deal after Germany reportedly signed up to the agreement.

The jets, also known as Eurofighters, are produced in a partnership between the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy.

About 37% of the production takes place in the UK, including final assembly at BAE Systems plants in Warton and Samlesbury, near Preston, Lancashire.

Downing Street said the Typhoon programme directly supported nearly 6,000 jobs at the two plants, with Monday’s deal saving the Warton production line.

The programme also supported more than 1,100 jobs in the South West of England, including at the Rolls-Royce plant in Bristol, and 800 jobs in Scotland.

Previous reporting suggested the UK would agree to provide 40 jets, rather than the 20 announced on Monday.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said 20 jets was “still a significant number” and it was “a decision for the Turks in terms of future orders based on their operational requirements”.

The first delivery of the new jets is expected to take place in 2030.

Sir Keir’s visit to Ankara is his first trip to Turkey since becoming Prime Minister, although he has met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan several times at international summits.

Amnesty International urged the Prime Minister to “carefully consider the human rights records of countries like Turkey (that) the UK does business with”.

Arguing that a “massive crackdown on human rights” was taking place in the country, Amnesty’s foreign affairs director, Polly Truscott, said the group “urges Keir Starmer to use this opportunity to question the disturbing state of human rights in Turkey and to ensure UK business dealings don’t exacerbate or provide diplomatic cover for human rights abuses”.