ALTHOUGH the full impact of yesterday’s defence review will not be felt for a while, it is clearly going to mean lost jobs in Lancashire’s world-class aerospace industry.

But as BAE Systems bosses scrutinise the small print, it does appear that feared cuts to the Typhoon fighter have not been announced and, for the time being at least, 2,000 jobs are safeguarded.

However, a cloud now hangs over another 1,000 jobs because of a reduction in orders for the US-led F-35 fighter for which Samlesbury constructs the rear fuselage.

As with so many political announcements these days, it appears we were prepared for the worst and then presented with something which is not as bad as it could have been.

Aerospace has a crucial place in the East Lancashire economy and it is reckoned that each BAE job supports several more in the supply chain.

The highly technical nature of the jobs involved makes them especially important.

This skilled workforce has taken many years to build and it would be disastrous if it was broken up because of a short to medium- term political decision.