First Minister John Swinney has warned that UK Government spending on Trident is making it harder to strengthen conventional defence, as GMB Scotland said Sir Keir Starmer’s much-anticipated defence plan must deliver skilled jobs north of the border.
Mr Swinney said the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan fell short of the ambition previously promised, while the union warned the spending must support Scottish apprenticeships and industrial capacity rather than see contracts flow overseas.
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The outgoing Prime Minister announced an additional £15bn for defence, with UK defence spending due to rise from £54bn a year to almost £80bn by 2029.
Sir Keir said the plan would make Britain safer, transform the armed forces and strengthen Nato, with investment in drones, autonomous weapons, a “hybrid navy” and new warships.
The plan states Scotland will be one of five areas covered by new Defence Growth Deals, alongside Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Wales and Northern Ireland, backed by £250m over five years to strengthen regional defence clusters and support jobs, skills and private investment.
On shipbuilding, the document says Scotland’s shipyards on the Clyde will be “full for years to come” because of the UK’s £10bn frigate deal with Norway. It also commits to a combined fleet of at least 13 Type 26 submarine-hunting frigates under the Lunna House Agreement, described in the plan as the biggest British warship deal in history.
The plan also sets out several Scottish defence-site commitments, including maintaining Vanguard submarines at Clyde and Devonport, investment at RNAD Coulport as part of the warhead programme, a multi-decade programme to transform HM Naval Base Clyde, and new floating docks and infrastructure at Faslane.
However, Mr Swinney used his response to highlight the Scottish Government’s opposition to the UK’s nuclear weapons system, arguing that the scale of spending on Trident makes it more difficult to improve conventional military capability.
The Scottish Government has long opposed nuclear weapons being based in Scotland.
Ministers have said that, in the event of independence, nuclear weapons should be removed “as safely and quickly as possible”, while arguing that this would not prevent Scotland from defending itself or seeking Nato membership.
Responding to the defence plan today, Mr Swinney said: “I welcome the publication of the long-overdue Defence Investment Plan, although I am disappointed that it falls short of the ambition that was previously promised and we are still to receive full details of the budget reductions for Scotland that will be required to pay for this.
“There is a focus on strengthening defence in the High North and during a call with the UK Government this morning, I reaffirmed the Scottish Government’s commitment to constructive collaboration on defence and security.
“I also highlighted the significant potential of Scotland’s space sector, noting the important contribution it can make to both national security and economic growth through innovation and advanced technologies.
“It is absolutely vital that conventional military capabilities are enhanced, but this is made ever more difficult by the enormous investment made by the UK Government in the Trident nuclear weapons system.
“With our skilled workforce, strong industrial base and culture of innovation, Scotland is well placed to attract economic investment in cutting-edge defence and technology programmes that will keep our nation safe.”
The First Minister was briefed on the plan during a short call with the Minister for the Armed Forces and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
The Defence Investment Plan includes more than £5bn for drones and autonomous weapons, which Sir Keir described as the largest UK investment yet in the technology.
It also includes proposals for a “hybrid navy”, using autonomous vessels and artificial intelligence alongside warships and aircraft, as well as funding for six new warships.
The Government has also said the package includes an £8.6bn investment in a fighter jet programme with Italy and Japan, and an increase in investment in renewing the nuclear deterrent to £64bn.
Sir Keir said the plan would be funded partly by reallocating capital budgets across government departments, with some road and energy projects which were “important but not immediately vital” no longer going ahead as planned.
He insisted the increase would not be funded by borrowing or by cuts to day-to-day public spending on frontline services such as health and education.
Sir Keir also said defence procurement would be guided by the motto “back British”, claiming the investment would create almost 60,000 jobs and announcing a new £50bn defence export facility to help British firms compete internationally.
GMB Scotland, one of the biggest unions in the defence sector, said the plan offered a clear opportunity to strengthen both national security and economic growth, but warned procurement would have to become “faster and fairer”.
Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, said: “The spending announced today will help secure the UK but must also secure skilled UK jobs and modern, world-class apprenticeships.
“Every pound spent making our country safer should be a pound spent making our country and our communities economically stronger.
“For too long, our governments have been content to send work, jobs and skills abroad, while allowing our own industrial capabilities to wither.
“It cannot go on. Procurement must be far faster and much fairer.
“Contracts must no longer go abroad based on the bottom line alone with no consideration of the wider economic and social value to the UK.”
Ms Gilmour said defence companies, from naval shipyards in Glasgow and Fife to small specialist engineering firms, needed a reliable pipeline of work to secure jobs and recruit apprentices to help close Scotland’s skills gap.
In the plan, Scottish-linked commitments include £260m to upgrade P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, which the plan says will be based at RAF Lossiemouth, and new Defence Munitions infrastructure at Glen Douglas. The plan also says potential sites in Scotland, England and Wales have been identified for new munitions and military explosives factories.
Ms Gilmour added: “Scotland has highly skilled workers, from coders to shipbuilders, but not nearly enough. This investment offers the opportunity to change that.
“Our country does not need to sustain its skilled workforce but grow it and that demands more world-class apprenticeships training our young people in the skills of tomorrow.”
The Scottish Secretary said the plan will "make Britain safer", adding that Scotland's defence sector will benefit from it.
Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said: "Scotland’s world class defence sector will directly benefit from the UK Government's Defence Investment Plan.
"From the naval shipbuilding expertise on the Clyde and at Rosyth, to our nuclear deterrent and submarine support at Faslane, to our world-leading strengths in cyber, space, advanced radar and electronic warfare, Scotland's diverse and capable defence sector will continue to deliver the capabilities our Armed Forces depend on every day.
"The UK Government’s Defence Investment Plan will make Britain safer at home, stronger abroad and deliver a defence dividend for Scotland with opportunities for communities across the country."
However, the announcement comes after weeks of tension inside Labour over the scale of defence funding.
Former defence secretary John Healey resigned after pushing for a larger settlement. He had sought £28bn for the plan and stood down in protest at what he regarded as insufficient funding.
Today, Keir Starmer said there would “always be those” arguing that more should be spent, but insisted he was “100% confident” the plan was the right settlement.
Following the announcement, the Prime Minister faced questions about whether Andy Burnham, who is expected to succeed him if no other Labour MP enters the leadership contest, had seen the Defence Investment Plan.
Sir Keir did not answer directly, saying instead that the plan set out the future capabilities of the UK military and how they would be funded.
He said it was a platform on which his successor would build and pledged to do “everything within my power” to ensure an orderly transition to a new prime minister.
The Conservatives said the plan was “too little, too late”, while the Liberal Democrats said it had “dangerously short-changed” the armed forces.
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