EU Is Acting 'Unusual And Strange', Claims Defence Secretary Over Satellite Project

The EU is acting in a "most unusual and strange way" by threatening to exclude the UK from a major security project, the Defence Secretary has claimed.

Gavin Williamson reiterated that the UK is prepared to develop its own version of the system if it is kicked out of the Galileo satellite programme post-Brexit.

The Galileo project is the European version of the US's GPS system - promising real-time positioning down to a metre or less - which first proved a success to military units fighting in the featureless desert in the first Gulf War in 1991.

A row has started between London and Brussels over the issue, with the UK having already made clear it will seek a refund of the £1 billion it has already invested in the project - a rival to GPS - if it withdraws from it.

Speaking in the Commons on Monday, SNP MP Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) asked: "What discussions has he had with the Scottish Government regarding the potential exclusion and uncertainty surrounding the future UK participation in the Galileo project?"

Mr Williamson replied: "What we are seeing with the Galileo project is frankly the European Union acting in a most unusual and strange way.

"Why on earth would they wish to exclude Great Britain from such an integral project for the security of the whole of the European Union and so many others?

"As Britain is the largest spender on defence in the European Union currently, you'd be thinking they'd be welcoming us into that and hoping that we'd be continuing to support it.

"If they don't want us, we can do it independently."