Sunak pledges to boost UK’s nuclear deterrent to protect against Putin
Rishi Sunak is to pledge new funding for the UK’s nuclear deterrent in a bid to strengthen the country’s defences against the growing threat of Russia.
Britain’s defence and civil nuclear industries will receive more than £760m over the next decade – including £200m from the Government – to help create 40,000 new jobs by 2030.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps will also publish a Defence Nuclear Enterprise command paper to set out how ministers plan to modernise the country’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent, including the Trident missile system.
At the same time, Sir Keir Starmer will unveil Labour’s plans to boost Britain’s energy independence and “get Putin’s boot off our throat”.
The Labour leader will visit North Wales with new First Minister Vaughan Gething to highlight the publicly-owned clean energy company, Great British Energy, which will be created if the party wins power in the general election.
Starmer will also accuse the Conservatives of being “frankly unpatriotic” for opposing plans for Great British Energy.
The plans from both the Conservatives and Labour show how bolstering the UK’s energy security and defence capabilities in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia will be a key priority for government of whoever wins the election.
Following Friday’s Moscow terror attack, the Foreign Office updated its travel advice to Russia and urged any Britons in the country to follow counter-terror announcements from authorities.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue, in which at least 137 people died.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the UK had to be “on our guard” for an attack from Islamic State in the UK and that the terror threat level, which is currently at substantial, the third-highest, was kept under constant review.
However, Vladimir Putin’s attempt to link the concert hall atrocity to Ukraine – which Kyiv has dismissed – will fuel concerns in Whitehall about how the Russian President will respond following the terror attack.
On a visit on Monday to Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria – the home of UK nuclear submarine-building – Sunak will pledge a “national endeavour” to boost the nuclear industry workforce in the UK.
The Government will spend £20m a year over the next decade, while private firms including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, EDF and Babcock will pledge £563m for the same period, to spend on skills, jobs and education in the civil and defence nuclear industries.
Government sources said the funding was new money, meaning it would not come from the existing defence budget, which is already under severe strain, and would not mean further cuts to the Armed Forces to pay for it.
Last month it emerged that a test-firing of a Trident missile from a Royal Navy submarine had faile for the second time in a row, fuelling concerns that the deterrent needs modernising.
The new funding will help double the number of nuclear apprentices and graduates, and quadruple the number of specialist science and nuclear fission PhDs, as well as improve Barrow as a place to live and work.
It follows the £2.38bn deal Australia signed with the UK last week for new nuclear submariness for Australia to be built in Barrow.
Sunak said: “Safeguarding the future of our nuclear deterrent and nuclear energy industry is a critical national endeavour.
“In a more dangerous and contested world, the UK’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent is more vital than ever. And nuclear delivers cheaper, cleaner home-grown energy for consumers.
“That’s why we are investing in Barrow, the home of UK submarines, and in the jobs and skills of the future in the thriving British nuclear industry. Today we usher in the next generation of our nuclear enterprise, which will keep us safe, keep our energy secure, and keep our bills down for good.”
In North Wales, on his first official visit with Gething as First Minister, Starmer will say that Britain must “take back control of our national energy security”.
The Labour leader will add: “A key pillar of a modern British economy is secure, homegrown British energy – this is a basic duty of government and it’s frankly unpatriotic for the Tories to oppose it.
“In an increasingly insecure world, with tyrants using energy as an economic weapon, Britain must take back control of our national energy security.
“After 14 years of a Tory government kowtowing to fossil fuel dictators, Labour’s plan for energy independence would get Putin’s boot off our throat and power up communities across Britain.”
