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Building new submarines in Barrow-in-Furness is a “blueprint” for how increasing defence spending can boost prosperity across the UK, the Prime Minister has said.
Sir Keir Starmer made the comments ahead of a visit to the town at the heart of Britain’s submarine-building industry.
Sir Keir is expected to lay the keel for the next generation of Britain’s nuclear deterrent submarines – Dreadnought – when he visits Cumbria on Thursday.
The Prime Minister will argue his plans to boost defence spending will help fulfil his mission to grow the economy, after announcing last month his government will increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of the UK’s economic output by 2027.
It comes after Starmer secretly joined a crew of submariners returning home to their families after months at sea, making him the first Prime Minister to join a so-called “day zero” since 2013.
And King Charles is expected to confer the Port of Barrow with the title ‘Royal’, to recognise the town’s contribution towards national security as a hub of submarine building.
Barrow blueprint
Starmer said: “When I say that our plan for change is delivering security for working people and renewal for our country, there is no better blueprint than Barrow.
“Defence spending here is supporting highly skilled jobs, driving opportunities for young people and delivering world class capabilities to keep us all safe, but it’s also crucially putting money in the pockets of hardworking people.”
On Thursday, the PM will lay the keel of the first of the Dreadnought class of submarines, a fleet of four vessels that will make up the next generation of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
The government says the creation of Dreadnought will support more than 30,000 UK jobs, while Barrow will play a vital role in delivering the AUKUS programme – an alliance between Australia, the United States and the UK – with submarines built at the BAE Systems site.
Nuclear deterrent
Some £28m funding, announced by the Government to support technical education across England, will meanwhile train the next generation of Barrow’s shipwrights.
Defence secretary John Healey said Dreadnought was “one of the most complex projects ever undertaken in this country, representing the very best of British engineering”.
And he pledged the government’s “unshakeable” commitment to the nuclear deterrent, as “the ultimate guarantor of our national security and the security of our NATO allies”.
Increased defence spending comes as the UK and Europe ramp up efforts to put Ukraine in a strong position, and establish a peacekeeping force ahead of a US-led deal with Russia – despite Moscow indicating it would refuse a ceasefire if the coalition of the willing was deployed in Ukraine.
