Latest news with #RollsRoyce
The Independent
13 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Not providing public cash for arms ‘student union politics', says Healey
The Scottish Government's policy of not providing public funding for munitions has been branded 'student union politics' by the UK's Defence Secretary. The comments come as the Prime Minister is due to announce the outcome of a major defence review in a visit to Scotland on Monday. The Scottish Government refuses to provide funding to firms directly for the creation of arms, but does offer cash for other things, such as diversifying away from the munitions industry and apprenticeships. The policy has again come to the fore as a result of a wrangle over £2.5 million of funding required by Rolls-Royce to create a specialist welding centre in Glasgow, with the UK Government saying it would provide the cash if the Edinburgh administration did not. Asked about the policy on BBC Scotland's Sunday Show, Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'It's the first time I've come across (such a policy), but it really strikes me as student union politics. 'This is not a serious Government concerned about the opportunities for young people for the future, concerned about the skills base for Scotland, or indeed the industry and innovation in the future that means that Scotland has a big part to play in strengthening the British industrial base, as we will through more defence investment.' Rolls-Royce, he said, is 'central to much of the most important military equipment that keeps all of us safe' and the welding centre would not only be about work in munitions. Mr Healey added: 'It's about support for Scotland's shipyard pipeline as well as essential skills, new opportunities for young people. 'I can hardly believe this is the case that the Scottish nationalist Government are saying they won't step in to provide some of the funding to make sure this new welding skills centre can get up and running. 'And if the Scottish SNP Government won't step up to support skills and the future of jobs in Scotland, then we will.' Speaking later on the same programme, Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said the welding centre was never eligible for funding thanks to the 'long-standing' policy. She added: 'I think the key difference here between ourselves and the UK Government is that when we have principles, we stick to them.' The Scottish Government, she went on to say, 'completely understands' the 'really unprecedented threats' the UK faces on the world stage, but pointed out that First Minister John Swinney welcomed the increased defence spending announced by the Prime Minister. 'But that doesn't mean that we can't also still maintain the policy positions that we've had for quite a long time and have been long-standing within our party, that we don't support the use of public finance for the manufacture of munitions and neither do we support that for nuclear weapons,' she said. Later on Sunday, former SNP MP Stewart McDonald urged his party to have a 'renewed defence debate that moves us beyond our old slogans and comfort zones'. 'The world has changed utterly over the past few years, and we must show voters we understand that and can change too,' he said in a post on X. 'We aren't just spectators to a changing security landscape, but contributors with the ability to shape events – not least when it comes to supporting Scotland's defence sector, which employs over 30,000 people and contributes around £1.5bn annually to our economy. 'It's a critical industry that we should not be ashamed of supporting and national policy should reflect that.' He added that public agencies in Scotland, including the Scottish National Investment Bank, should be able to spend on defence.
Telegraph
15 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
SNP's demented defence policy shows they are not a serious political party
Those sad souls who cling to the belief that the SNP is a serious political party will no doubt rush to its aid as it maintains its demented approach to defending Scotland. As the UK Government prepares to unveil its policy for the defence of Britain, the Scottish Nationalists registered their total disapproval by rejecting a request for £2.5 million to establish a hi-tech welding capacity in Scotland where vital equipment could be manufactured by Rolls-Royce for Britain's submarine fleet. The SNP attitude is a straightforward cop-out in that it believes the country it wishes to make independent from the United Kingdom will require someone to defend Scotland in an increasingly dangerous world. But for goodness sake, don't ask John Swinney 's SNP Government to do it; they don't want to get their hands dirty in that nasty defence business. In a supposedly high-minded statement, but actually a Looney Tunes dissertation, one of his ministers proudly boasted that it couldn't possibly get involved in defending Scotland because it had 'principles' to maintain. And the principle of those principles, she said, was that the SNP Government refused to stump up for anything that smacks of defence. Or as Marie Gougeon, the party's rural affairs minister, put it, 'We don't support the use of public finance for the manufacture of munitions and neither do we support that for nuclear weapons.' This policy – total abrogation of responsibility would be a better description of the above load of nonsense – was uttered, one must presume in all seriousness, on the eve of the Government publishing and presenting its new defence policy for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. That is for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and – oh yes, I nearly forgot – Scotland. John Healey, the Defence Secretary, expressed his astonishment at the refusal and he said he wasn't aware that this refusal to defend themselves was part of the SNP holy writ and simply added that it struck him as 'student union politics'. He insisted that if the Scottish Government wouldn't stump up the required cash, the UK would provide it, adding: 'This is a massive industrial opportunity for Scotland, to provide good, skilled jobs for working-class kids. It's outrageous the SNP is blocking a key grant to establish a specialist welding centre in Glasgow.' I can't be the only one who wishes that this ridiculous SNP behaviour would count against their candidate in Thursday's by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, but then again Nat loyalists consistently support all manner of rubbish from their masters. And, after all, the world may well be an increasingly dangerous place but then the late Alex Salmond had once confessed a sneaking regard for Vladimir Putin and only stopped broadcasting for his Moscow radio station when the Russians invaded Ukraine. In addition, unless I'm mistaken, the Nats once voted that an independent Scotland would join Nato, which – in case they'd forgotten – is a nuclear alliance. But then what does the truth matter when Ms Gougeon is parading her party's 'principles'?
Edmonton Journal
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Edmonton Journal
'Do I chopper in?': Evander Kane jokes about grand entrance vs Florida Panthers
Article content Kane caused a stir when he arrived with teammate Connor Brown in a Rolls Royce for Edmonton's first game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas. Now he's musing about arriving to the big game in a helicopter. 'I did it in Dallas,' Kane said of his Rolls Royce arrival on the Snipes and Stripes podcast with Hall of Fame player Jeremy Roenick and former NHL ref Tim Peel. 'In Game 1, right? I brought Brownie. So I don't know if that's why we lost or what not. So I gassed the Rolls for Game 2. I said, 'I'm getting back on the team bus on the road. 'And we won Game 2, so then we won Game 2, was back on the team bus. So on the road right now, I'm sticking with the bus. Guys were talking like, 'Do I chopper in in Florida? Like, do I chopper in?' So the Rolls is parked until further notice. We're sticking with the Lambo for Game 1 (in Edmonton).' However, Kane arrives he'll have a hard time beating Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer's entrance to Florida on the tarmac last Stanley Cup Final.
India.com
16 hours ago
- Business
- India.com
IndiGo Places Order For Another 30 Wide-Body A350 Aircraft With Airbus
New Delhi: Low-cost airline IndiGo on Sunday announced an MoU with Airbus to enlarge its wide-body aircraft order by converting 30 aircraft of its purchase rights for 70 aircraft into a firm order. This is yet another step in defining the airline's long-term plans for international expansion. "We are placing a firm order for 30 Airbus A350-900s," said Pieter Elbers, the CEO of IndiGo. At a briefing in the national capital, Elbers said that out of the option for 70 planes, it is now placing a firm order of 30 aircraft. Last year, IndiGo took the strategic decision to induct widebody aircraft in its fleet by placing a firm order for 30 A350-900 aircraft, with purchase rights for an additional 70 aircraft. The original order's deliveries are expected to start in 2027. "We will continue to add one aircraft a week to double by the end of the decade," said the IndiGo CEO. This strategic move will enable IndiGo to spread its wings further and expand its long-haul international network, connecting Indian metros to different parts of the world. 'With this, it will create more travel options for its customers to new international destinations and also enable more flights to the hubs of its partner airlines,' the airline said in a statement. IndiGo's Airbus A350-900 aircraft will be powered by Rolls Royce's Trent XWB engine. In March 2025, IndiGo began preparing for its long-haul operations with the introduction of six temporarily leased wide-body aircraft, deliveries of which will be concluded by 2026. With its fleet of more than 400 aircraft, the airline operates around more than 2,200 daily flights.
Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
IndiGo tops up its long-haul international ambitions by doubling Airbus A350 order size to 60 aircraft
India's largest airline IndiGo on Sunday announced that it will be placing a firm order for another 30 wide-body Airbus A350-900 aircraft, taking its total order size to 60 of these long-range jets to fuel its international ambitions. In April last year, IndiGo had announced a firm order for 30 A350-900 aircraft, along with purchase options for another 70 planes of the A350 family. On Sunday, the airline and European aerospace major Airbus inked an agreement to convert 30 of those options into firm orders. Purchase options allow airlines to buy additional aircraft in the future at a pre-agreed price point and delivery date, providing flexibility to carriers to adjust their fleet development based on factors like market conditions and demand. After dominating the Indian skies with a domestic market share of over 60 per cent, IndiGo has been focusing on 'internationalization', which entails a rapid expansion of its international network—including foraying into the long-haul segment—given the robust overseas travel demand from India. Over the past two to three years, IndiGo has expanded its international network by adding destinations in regions including Central Asia and the Caucasus, Southeast Asia, and Africa using its narrow-body fleet. IndiGo expects the delivery of initially ordered A350 aircraft to start in 2027 and go on for a few years. The next 30 will start coming in after that, taking the deliveries well into the next decade, the airline's CEO Pieter Elbers said. 'IndiGo's Airbus A350-900 aircraft will be powered by Rolls Royce's Trent XWB engine. The mission capability of this aircraft, coupled with the efficiency of the Trent XWB engine, will offer IndiGo unprecedented optionality and reach as it embarks on the next stage of its wonderful journey of addressing the rapidly evolving needs of the Indian market and our nation,' IndiGo said in a release. The airline did not provide the financial details of the order. The list price of an A350-900 is around $310 million, per industry sources. However, it is worth noting that aircraft manufacturers usually offer significant discounts on large orders. The A350-900 can carry a maximum of 440 passengers in a high-density configuration, and has a range of close to 16,000 km, which means that the aircraft can cover a vast majority of geographies from India. According to Elbers, IndiGo with its dominant position in India's large and growing domestic aviation market is in a position to naturally evolve into a global aviation player and contribute in making India a global aviation hub with multiple options for international-to-domestic and international-to-international connections. Turning India into a major aviation hub is also part of the government's civil aviation vision. IndiGo sees significant potential in the international segment, given that Indian airlines account for 45 per cent of India's international air passenger traffic, while overseas carriers account for around 55 per cent. In the case of India-Europe passenger traffic, overseas carriers have an even higher share of around 70 per cent. Prior to inducting the A350s, as part of its internationalisation strategy, IndiGo plans to induct extra-long-range narrow-body Airbus A321 XLR aircraft from this financial year. Although the XLRs are single-aisle planes, their extended range enables them to operate on medium-haul international routes that IndiGo is currently not able to service with its current fleet. As for long-haul routes, the airline has decided to enter the long-haul market using six damp-leased Boeing 787 wide-body jets from Norse Atlantic. IndiGo is slated to make its long-haul debut using the damp-leased aircraft from early July with Manchester and Amsterdam. Currently, Air India is the only Indian airline that operates long-haul international flights. IndiGo's move to have a wide-body fleet of its own marked a significant departure from the classic and proven budget airline model that focusses on single-type narrow-body fleet and domestic and short-haul international routes. The low-cost long-haul model, on the other hand, has seen far more failures than successes globally. IndiGo currently operates a fleet of narrow-body jet and turboprop aircraft, except for two wide-body Boeing 777 planes on lease from Turkish Airlines specifically for flights between India and Turkey. Over the past few years, IndiGo has been pushing its international network expansion to the extent it can with its narrow-body fleet. But instead of entering high-competition and busy routes, the airline focussed on identifying under-served routes and those with latent demand, while also stimulating demand on certain others. IndiGo is already the largest customer for Airbus with over 350 Airbus A320 family aircraft in its fleet of 400-plus planes. It also has an outstanding order book of over 900 A320 family planes with deliveries planned well into the next decade.
