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Daily Mail
December 22, 2013
David Cameron’s failure to take military action against Syria may have cost Britain a £6billion deal to sell fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates, experts claimed last night.
The Prime Minister faced a massive snub when the oil-rich Gulf state suddenly pulled the plug on plans to buy 60 Eurofighter Typhoons from defence giant BAe Systems on Thursday.
Following a year of talks, the aerospace firm admitted the UAE had ‘elected not to proceed’ on the purchase of a range of defence and security equipment.
The decision was a blow for Mr Cameron, who flew to Dubai last month to persuade crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to buy the warplanes, which are also in service with the RAF.
Defence analysts said the Government had paid the price for failing to be ‘robust’ over Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, who killed more than 1,400 civilians in a chemical weapon attack in a bid to crush pro-democracy rebels.
In August, Mr Cameron suffered a humiliating Commons defeat over plans for missile strikes on Syria – seen as a grave threat to Middle East stability.
But inaction by Downing Street over Damascus – and Iran’s nuclear ambitions – fuelled concerns in the Gulf about the UK’s long-term commitment to the region’s stability.
Dr John Louth, of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said: ‘Britain didn’t really do a great deal in relation to Syria and this may have undermined [the UAE’s] confidence.
But Dr Louth suggested the lucrative contract might not be ‘dead in the water’ because the UAE still needed fighter jets. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a deal on this in the next year,’ he added.
However, Keith Hayward, of the Royal Aeronautical Society, said: ‘All sorts of things can affect these deals and not just to do with the quality of the aircraft concerned.’
UAE military chiefs are said to prefer the Typhoon following its performance in Libya during the 2011 campaign to oust Colonel Gaddafi.
