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Obama's boost for Boeing in Eads row
Bill Condie, Evening Standard02.04.08
Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has waded into the furore over the award of a $35 billion (£18 billion) air tanker deal with the US air force, won by a consortium led by Airbus maker Eads and Northrop Grumman, which would safeguard thousands of British jobs.
Boeing, which lost out in the deal, has been rallying politicians to its cause, saying that the air force made mistakes in opting for an Airbus platform.
On the campaign trail, Obama said the government should try to "priori-tise" US companies in the selection process. "It strikes me that we should have identified a US company that could do it," he said during a campaign stop in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The issue has added resonance as Republican candidate John McCain has faced questions about the contract because some of his current advisers lobbied for Eads.
Obama's Democrat rival Hillary Clinton has said she was "troubled" that the contract went to a team that includes Airbus.
Northrop says that no US jobs or military technology will be sent abroad. The Northrop-Eads consortium includes British firms such as engineer Cobham, which could earn $1 billion.
