Prime Minister Andy Burnham will unveil an £8.4 billion investment in nuclear deterrent submarines during a visit to Barrow-in-Furness on Thursday, stating the funding will strengthen national security. The investment marks the start of the fourth phase of the programme, with the first vessel, HMS Dreadnought, expected to enter service in the early 2030s.
Jobs and apprenticeships
The money is set to support tens of thousands of jobs, with a target of creating 22,000 apprenticeships by 2035. The Prime Minister will say the government will set out more on how it will achieve that in the coming weeks, ensuring major projects deliver for places like Barrow – the home of UK submarine building.
Mr Burnham said: “Keeping this country safe is the first responsibility of any government - but security is not only about what we build, it is about who builds it, and who benefits from it. The submarines produced in Barrow will protect Britain for decades to come, and the 47,000 jobs and apprenticeships will change lives both in this town and in dozens of places like it.
“British money, spent on British workers, British firms and British skills, in the places that were written off for forty years. To every young person across the country, I want you to know that there is a path for you into a reindustrialised Britain, and it starts with the apprenticeships we are funding through this investment today.”
Investment breakdown
The £8.4bn funding includes £5.9bn allocated to BAE Systems, which builds British submarines in Barrow, and £2.5 billion for the broader supply chain, supporting over 6,000 companies. The UK’s Defence Nuclear Enterprise currently supports around 47,000 British jobs – forecast to rise to 65,000 by 2030.
Apprenticeship scheme
During the visit, the Prime Minister will also unveil a new apprenticeship scheme designed to help young people in the Northwest of England access skilled employment opportunities. The Dreadnought-class submarines will replace the UK’s ageing Vanguard-class submarines, which currently provide the Royal Navy’s underwater nuclear deterrent.
In 2016, then Defence Secretary Michael Fallon justified the submarine’s construction, stating that the Royal Navy ‘cannot know what dangers we might face in the 2030s, 2040s and 2050s’.
Defence spending commitments
Earlier this week, Mr Burnham declined to commit to the UK spending three percent of GDP on defence by 2030. Asked at a press conference on Wednesday if he would make the commitment, he said: “When it comes to defence, obviously those commitments … relate to the Parliament after this one. In terms of our Nato commitments, I have been very clear that we will honour those commitments. It does mean being prepared to look at challenging issues.”
Chancellor John Healey quit as Sir Keir Starmer’s Defence Secretary after the government said it would raise defence spending to just 2.68 percent of GDP. Mr Healey argued that it must hit three percent in 2030 to meet the challenge.
Current Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Our nuclear-armed submarines are essential to keeping the UK secure, acting as the ultimate deterrent to our adversaries in an increasingly dangerous world. This milestone investment breathes new life into Barrow’s historic traditions and secures our commitment to deliver Dreadnought Class submarines by backing British industry.”
