A TOP Labour politician today vowed the Eurofighter project, on which thousands of Lancashire jobs depend , was safe in his party's hands.

Shadow defence secretary Dr David Clark gave "an absolute assurance" that the Eurofighter will go ahead under a Labour government when he visited British Aerospace's military aircraft division at Warton, Lancashire today.

He rejected Tory claims that the plane would suffer the same fate of being scrapped under Labour as the TSR2 had done in the 1960s under Harold Wilson.

Dr Clark said the party's promised defence review would not affect the four-nation Eurofighter, which was vital to the firm and the whole Lancashire aerospace industry.

He said: "I can give an absolute assurance that Eurofighter will go ahead under a Labour government. This aircraft will form the cornerstone of the RAF's capability in the 21st century."

"This aircraft is vital for the future effectiveness of the RAF and for the future success of the UK industry. Labour has consistently backed this project and we will continue publicly to declare our wholehearted commitment. "Labour won't play politics with people's jobs. In government Labour will establish a defence review which will bring more stability to defence orders and put an end to the salami style cuts which have proved so damaging to our defence effort."

Dr Clark said the Tories had slashed defence spending by 27 per cent in the last decade and halved the size of the UK defence industry with the lost of 380,000 jobs.

He said: "The UK defence industry makes a vital contribution to the overall defence of our country and Lancashire defence workers play a significant role in maintaining this capability."

Earlier this month, Defence Secretary Michael Portillo visited BAe's Samlesbury site and warned that a Labour government would risk defence jobs.

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