DAVID Clark, Labour's defence spokesman, announced that Tony Blair had confirmed that if Labour wins the Eurofighter would go ahead.

I disagree. Whoever wins the election, I believe this costly project will be allowed to die a natural death.

Germany is obviously reluctant. Italy and Spain have had nothing to say on the matter.

It was originally agreed that each country would manufacture a different part of the aircraft. Where it would be assembled is anyone's guess.

I can visualise 5,000 sets of wings lying on the tarmac at Warton waiting for the economic circumstances of the other three to improve.

Of course, the £15 billion of taxpayers' money allocated by the Conservative Government would disappear into thin air, and the extra jobs created are a fallacy.

Money taken forcibly from the taxpayer, if left where it is, would be spent in a multitude of ways freely decided and also creating socially-necessary jobs rather than on an over-emphasis on aggressive military hardwear when Europe is largely at peace.

KEN BUTLER, Haston Lee Avenue, Brownhill, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.