Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has pledged to place defence at the centre of his party's industrial and skills strategy. Ahead of a visit to Babcock in Rosyth, he said he wanted to keep the UK safe by creating skilled jobs across Scotland and building a training system around identified skills gaps.
His plan includes a new programme of defence bonds to fund a £20 billion boost to military spending, aiming to increase defence expenditure to 3% of GDP by 2030. Cole-Hamilton also proposed turning Scotland into Europe's leading destination for commercial space launches to enhance the UK's independent access to space for military satellites.
Cole-Hamilton said: 'We need to ramp up our industrial base and get serious about Scotland’s defences. A year ago, I drove with the charity Mighty Convoy to deliver ambulances to those fighting on the front line in Ukraine. No one should be in any doubt that unless Putin is defeated in Ukraine, he will strike again elsewhere. Meanwhile, America is no longer a reliable ally.'
The Lib Dem leader criticised the SNP and Reform UK, stating: 'The SNP are squeamish about keeping Scotland safe, while Reform are full of admiration for Putin. Neither of them can be trusted with our defence industry.' He added that every vote for his party would 'deliver change with fairness at its heart.'
A Babcock spokesperson noted that while most roles are filled locally, the specialist nature of skills required means short-term international recruitment is sometimes necessary to meet delivery timelines. An SNP spokesperson dismissed Cole-Hamilton's comments as campaign rhetoric and highlighted past cooperation between the two parties in Parliament.
