UK defence spending ramps up for warfighting readiness

To this end, the government is to invest £1.5bn in at least six munitions and energetics factories, creating over 1,000 jobs and giving the UK an ‘always on’ supply of munitions. Around 800 jobs will be supported by the delivery of up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons for Britain’s armed forces.

Starmer also pledged to deliver up to 12 attack submarines under the AUKUS alliance with the US and Australia, scaling up the industrial base in Barrow and along the supply chain to deliver a new sub every 18 months, creating thousands of jobs.

Furthermore, Starmer said £15bn will be invested into the sovereign warhead programme to secure the UK's nuclear deterrent for decades to come, creating 9,000 jobs and thousands more in supply chains.

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“We are moving to warfighting readiness,” he said in an address at BAE Systems’ Govan shipyard. “When we are being directly threatened by states with advanced military forces, the most effective way to deter them is to be ready, and frankly, to show them that we're ready to deliver peace through strength.”