Burnham says nuclear sub investment will protect UK and boost jobs

Thursday’s announcement of £8.4 billion marks the commencement of what has been called the fourth stage of the Dreadnought‑class submarine programme. The Dreadnoughts are set to regenerate the UK’s four Vanguard‑class vessels, which have been in service since 1992 carrying Trident missiles to provide the nation’s nuclear deterrent. Those Vanguard submarines are owed to be retired in the 2030s, with the Dreadnoughts entering service at the same time. The effort has taken two decades to reach this point; it was first announced in 2006 by the then‑Labour Prime Minister, Tony Blair. A decade later, in 2016, MPs formally approved building the new submarines. The funding was already planned and appears in the Defence Investment Plan published in the final days of Sir Keir Starmer’s government. That plan sets out £63.6 billion over the next four years for what is termed the Defence Nuclear Enterprise. The bulk of the money – £47 billion – will go toward keeping the nuclear submarines operational, continuing work on the Dreadnoughts, initiating development of a successor expected in roughly 30 years, and constructing additional submarines while upgrading the UK’s naval docks and manufacturing facilities. The prime minister will use his visit to Barrow‑in‑Furness to emphasise how defence spending can deliver economic benefits for the country. “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,” he said prior to his visit. “British money, spent on British workers, British firms and British skills, in the places that were written off for 40 years.” The government says the spending on the UK’s nuclear defence currently supports around 47,000 British jobs – a figure forecast to rise to 65,000 by 2030, including 22,000 apprenticeships by 2035. Since becoming prime minister, Burnham has said he wants to reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training and has announced funding to assist those starting apprenticeships. In a further step, he said the national procurement process, used to determine how to spend taxpayer cash, will favour companies offering 45‑day work placements. Speaking to the Jimmy's Jobs of the Future podcast, external, he said there would be “more social value weighting in national contracts”, with a particular focus on firms offering such placements. He noted that the idea was inspired by his time as Greater Manchester mayor, when he oversaw an increase in the number of 45‑day placements provided by private firms. However, the announcement offered little detail on the scale of the changes, how they would be implemented, or how many firms he expects to roll out the placements as a result.