Henry Smith MP was pleased to welcome high profile Foreign Office Minister, Alistair Burt MP who has been responsible for the Government’s Middle East and Arab Spring policies since the Coalition Government was elected to office, to Crawley today to meet with local business, Thales UK.
Commenting, Henry said:
“It’s a delight to welcome Alistair to Crawley to demonstrate how our town is at the forefront of technological advances. Alistair has been at the heart of the Government and its counter-terrorism policy, in which time he has been responsible for developing British Middle East policy in the wake of unravelling events throughout the region such as the recent Arab Spring.
“I’m glad that Alistair has taken the opportunity to visit Thales UK, a business which has a significant presence in Crawley and exists as one of the world’s largest defence electronics supplier. Thales is committed to reducing the effect of air travel on the environment in their design of more efficient air traffic management systems and this is a goal which has my full support. The interests of Gatwick Airport are central to our local community and I’m happy that Thales has decided to increase their presence in Crawley, thus augmenting their efforts to manage the challenges related to continuous air traffic in the area.”
During the visit, Alistair was invited to take part in a tour of Thales’ Crawley facilities and meet with several of Thales senior figures. The tour was hosted by Marion Broughton, the Vice President of Thales Avionics, Training and Simulation business in the UK and Victor Chavez, the Chief Executive of Thales UK.
Alistair Burt, MP for North East Bedfordshire, has taken up several key Cabinet posts in his long Parliamentary Career and in 2010 was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Thales is a global technology leader for the defence & security and the aerospace & transport market. They are a long standing partner to military and security forces around the world, providing support on the ground to increase operational effectiveness as well as ensure high levels of protection. Based in Crawley, they are also a world-leading provider of onboard and ground systems for the civil aerospace market, and are committed to reducing the effect of air travel on the environment in their design of more efficient air traffic management systems.