MP calls for transparency over drone factory

Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited Ukraine on Monday, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

The British government agreed to hand over blueprints for UK-made components for the Scalp missile, which is a French version of the UK's Storm Shadow cruise missile - allowing Ukraine to produce the long-range weapon domestically.

A Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, criticised the UK's decision to share the missile blueprints on Monday. Peskov said: "Britain is involved in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime. Britain methodically and regularly adds fuel to the fire," he added.

In response, Burnham said: "Who started the fire? That's the question, isn't it?"

The drone factory in Mildenhall was opened in February and is run by Ukrspecsystems, a Ukrainian firm.

At the time, it said it had repurposed a building in order to produce the unmanned aircraft as part of a £200m investment.

West Suffolk Conservative MP Timothy said: "It is not news that Russia targets British infrastructure, including military and industrial sites.

"MI5 has warned for years that so-called hybrid warfare methods are a threat to us and we must be prepared for them. "

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said a key issue was "strengthening cyber resilience", including using logins for systems and two-factor authenticators.

Cartlidge, Conservative MP for South Suffolk, said we must not "over interpret" Russian declarations as they had been happening since the start of the war in Ukraine and the annexation in Crimea.

"People do need to understand the threat - if they understand the threat more they are therefore more likely to accept that comes with more consequences like being more careful on cyber security and having to spend more of our taxes on the military," he added.

The drone factory is in the West Suffolk Council ward represented by Andy Neal from the West Suffolk Independent group. He questioned whether it had been naive for the location to be made public.

When the factory opened, the MoD said up to 500 jobs, external would be created. Neal said it would be a "massive" threat to the people working there and their families.

He also believed its proximity to RAF Mildenhall, home to the US Air Force (USAF) refuelling wing, would mean there would not be an aerial attack on the factory, but instead there could be some kind of "sabotage".

A USAF spokesperson said: "US Air Forces in Europe remain vigilant and ready to defend against any potential threats. We are committed to the safety of our airmen, families, mission partners and surrounding communities.

"We continue to work closely with our local law enforcement partners to ensure security measures are maintained."

The MoD said it would not comment on specific security procedures as this could benefit potential adversaries, but it said the security of defence assets was a top priority for the Labour government.

It added: "The first duty of government is national security. We take the security of our people, sites and local communities extremely seriously, and we continually review and strengthen our security arrangements.

"The public should be reassured that the UK and its allies remain vigilant against potential threats. We will not comment on specific security measures, but Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government to stand against Russian aggression, in Ukraine and against the UK and our allies."

Ukrspecsystems has also been contacted for comment.