1. UNION chiefs last night warned
of a jobs cull at BAE Systems
if the defence firm is swallowed
by a European rival.
Unite wants protection for UK
workers amid growing concerns about
the merger with Airbus-maker EADS.
And it demanded urgent meetings
with ministers before any further
talks between the firms.
BAE revealed on Wednesday the two
firms were discussing a deal. It would
create a company worth £30billion,
with annual sales of £60billion and
48,000 UK staff.
But EADS — backed by
the French and Ger-
man governments —
would hold a 60 per
cent interest. Unite’s Tony Burke said:
“Our first priority will be to safeguard
jobs and skills. Unite wants the Gov-
ernment to ensure jobs are protected
before approving any further talks.”
Ex-defence minister Peter Luff yes-
terday revealed the UK Government
had been discussing it for weeks with
BAE. Insiders at the giant insisted
the deal was good for Britain, combin-
ing its defence skills with EADS’ com-
mercial jumbo know-how. But BAE
shares tanked seven
per cent on concerns
the tie-up underval-
ued the business.
By STEVE HAWKES, Business Editor
Jumbo . . EADS’ Airbus A320
ROBBIE WILLIAMS used to
get swamped with offers
from female fans desper-
ate to have his babies.
But now he is a 38-year-old
married man with a daughter
on the way a strange new
phenomenon has emerged.
In Glasgow on Wednesday after-
noon women were coming up to him
and handing their babies over as if
he were a politician posing for
pictures with constituents during an
election campaign.
Robbie was patting pregnant
bumps, looking at pictures of
toddlers on camera phones and, by
the end of the day, had been
presented with almost all of the
contents of Mothercare.
He isn’t shy when it comes to
talking about his baby joy with
stunning wife Ayda, 33 — but all
that excitement has recently been
put into perspective.
When his close pal Gary Barlow
and wife Dawn’s daughter Poppy
was stillborn last month it proved to
Robbie the fragility of pregnancy.
In an exclusive interview with The
Sun, Robbie says: “You know, Gaz
is the most solid man I know, way
more solid than me.
“He has the ability to put things
in compartments. But this is the
most testing thing he’s ever had to
go through, I’m sure.
Dapper
“It’s just one of those things
where we’ll see how it goes when I
see him, but it’s obviously a very,
very sad time for both him, Dawn
and the kids.
“It’s the heaviest, heaviest thing,
and, like I say, Gaz is so together.
We’ll sit down and have a proper
chat at some point but so far it
hasn’t happened.”
The Take That bandmates bumped
into each other last week, but it
wasn’t the right time for a heart-to-
heart. The lads were being honoured
at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards
— Gary picking up Outstanding
Achievement and his old foe Robbie
the Icon gong.
He explains: “We’re at an awards
ceremony, it’s not the place to talk
about anything. It was very much
surface stuff. But we shall be spend-
ing time together soon.”
I spent the day with Robbie in
Glasgow, where he was launching
the latest range of his dapper fash-
ion line Farrell, at House of Fraser.
We then travelled to the famous
Barrowlands venue, where he played
an outstanding gig in front of 1,500
sweaty, screaming women.
Robbie took time to speak to his
fans and seemed to be enjoying
being a full-time pop star again.
It has been ages since he had a
drink or any drugs. He’s even been
off the fags for more than five
months — something he found
surprisingly easy to give up.
Robbie says: “It’s like a miracle. I
was in the car, I didn’t plan it, and
I said ‘I need to get some patches’
and gave up. Five weeks with the
patches on, then I forgot the patches
and just carried on.
“My body is just f***ed though.
I’ve been training the hardest I’ve
ever trained. I’m also eating a lot of
chocolate too. If I wasn’t eating the
chocolate I’d be underpants model-
ready. When you’re training, your
body just aches all the time.”
He didn’t look like he was in pain
on stage, with all the old moves —
or “dad-dancing” as he calls it — on
show during a greatest hits set.
He told the crowd he had a
mobile phone in his pocket and only
one woman in the world had the
number — Ayda.
The baby, and therefore “the big
call” as Robbie calls it, could come
at any time.
He says: “She’s been confined to
London. She’s not supposed to be
due until the 26th.
“Ayda’s like a very slim girl with
a basketball — from the back you
can’t tell she’s pregnant. She has
been like an athlete where being
pregnant is concerned — she’s been
a machine.
“The first trimester she was
nauseous and the second was
amazing. Then the third trimester
was pretty similar up until last
week. Then she had a couple of
days of full-on grump, which is
only to be expected when your
bladder is the size of a pea and a
human is treading on your insides.
“She got diabetes through it too,
so she’s had to watch her diet. But
she has been absolutely f***ing
amazing, because I know that
hormones get the best of people.
“She could have been all shapes
of crazy but she’s not. Life is very
stable, but very stable is not what
I’ve always sought. I know you’ve
got to get the balance right but I
doubt that I ever will.
“I still want to be rock ’n’ roll,
jumping off tables and going,
‘Come on, let’s have it!’
Cheeky
“It would appear that time is
catching me up. And so is my
lifestyle, with the family and the
mummy.”
There’s no doubt Robbie will
make a great dad. His paternal
skills are something he has spent a
lot of time pondering.
He said: “It’s so alien and also
I’ve lived a very selfish life for a
very long time where I haven’t had
to do anything for myself. I still
don’t know how to do anything for
myself and there’s a little person
who’s going to appear within the
week maybe and I’m crapping it
because if I don’t know how to
look after me, how can I look after
her? But I’m sure this is all very
natural.”
Robbie will be particularly good
when the ankle-biters get a bit
older. Last summer the tiny
members of the Take That
extended family ran riot during the
band’s huge Progress Live tour.
And Robbie’s proud to admit he
became “Cheeky Uncle Rob” to all
of them.
He said: “I have been the Take
That uncle. I did appear at Gary’s
house one night with a bag full of
Soccer Aid balls for his lad Dan.
“Mark’s kids on the last tour
were just a bit too young to hang
out, but Howard’s little girl Lola
had a bit of a crush on me, bless
her. We hung out an awful lot and
we played an awful lot. She sort of
came and hung out in my dressing
room and we watched the telly and
had a chat.
“I took Dan to Arsenal against
Manchester United at the Emirates,
in the big box. I would hope that
they like you.”
The biggest kid of all, though, is
Robbie’s closest pal in the band —
Mark Owen.
The lads had lengthy negotiations
about who could keep the giant
robot, OM, that lit up the stage on
their sell-out Progress Live tour,
which saw Robbie reunite with the
band he quit in 1995. Needless to
say, Robbie won. OM now stands
proudly in the grounds of his Wilt-
shire estate.
He says: “It’s funny, we’re all
really close but it’s a relationship
based almost entirely on email.
“I suppose if there wasn’t email I
wouldn’t have a relationship with
anybody. I don’t have a phone, I
don’t ring anybody, I hate using it.
“I’ve let them know that I want
to be part of the band whenever
they see fit. I really enjoyed it.”
For now, Robbie’s doing the solo
thing — and doing it very well.
He has a single coming out —
Candy, on October 29 — with new
album Take The Crown following
on November 5.
And taking back his pop crown
is exactly what he’s planning to do.
g.smart@the-sun.co.uk
DAD-TO-BE ON THE JOY...AND HEARTACHE...OF PARENTHOOD
NISSAN is recalling thou-
sands of cars after a steer-
ing wheel came off in a
driver’s hands.
The alert — affecting
7,000 vehicles sold in the
UK — affects five-door
Nissan Qashqai 2012 mod-
els, Qashqai+2 MPVs and
3,000 2012-built NV200s.
Nissan blamed faulty
parts sent to its Sunder-
land factory. Around 600
vehicles may need atten-
tion after the steering
wheel scare in Finland.
TEEM GB
Britain’s roads are more
clogged than ever with
34.6 million vehicles taxed,
up 0.5 per cent on 2011.
Nissan in
steeralertUK DEFENCE JOBS
FEAR OVER DEAL
EXCLUSIVE
ByGORDONSMART
ShowbizEditor
LOVING ANGELS . . .
Robbie with wife
Ayda, below, and his
bandmate Gary and
wife Dawn, above
A FRIEND IN
NEED . . . Robbie has
been supporting pal Gary
after the tragic loss of his
baby daughter last month
TOMORROW: WHY I FEEL SORRY FOR HARRY STYLES
10 Friday, September 14, 2012