Defence giants abandon plans for merger

The proposed merger of BAE Systems and EADS would have created a company with combined sales of £60bn and more than 220,000 staff, with around 52,000 in the UK alone.

But after days of wrangling, the two companies were forced to ditch the bid, giving rise to fears over job security at BAE, which operates from 50 UK locations.

BAE chief executive Ian King said the company was “obviously disappointed” but insisted it was “financially robust” and remained confident about its future.

Unions, defence analysts and Labour politicians all raised concerns, saying that the merger would have guaranteed jobs in the long term.