Last week's poll: what are the implications of BAE's Australian warship deal?

A review of Britain’s defence industry has found the sector to be one of the world’s strongest with an annual turnover of £22bn.

The review, published on July 9, 2018 and carried out by former defence minister Philip Dunne, found that defence supports 260,000 jobs and accounts for over £7bn of exports per year, which brings us to last week’s poll and BAE Systems’ £20bn contract to supply warships to Australia.

The contract to supply nine ships based on the Type 26 warship was won against competition from Spain and Italy and represents the first time since the 1970s that a British frigate design has been exported.

The deal has been seen by some as a major win for the UK defence industry, but others see it very differently. The ships will be built in an Australian shipyard using suppliers from across the nation, and the GMB union sees the deal as one that exports jobs rather than ships.