Sir Keir vows to put Britain first for MoD deals
SIR Keir Starmer used a visit to Plymouth yesterday to promise that Labour would prioritise British businesses for defence contracts.
The Labour leader visited Plymouth’s biggest employer, defence giant Babcock, met students and staff at City College Plymouth and knocked on doors in support of Labour’s local election campaign.
Sir Keir’s visit came as the party leader pledges to back the “Britishbuilt-by-default” campaign, urging ministers to give greater protection to UK jobs by favouring British defence manufacturers over buying military equipment from abroad.
According to analysis from the Labour party, more than £6 million of spending recently set out from the government will be spent on surveillance aircraft from overseas.
While the MoD has defended this strategy, having argued it will see a departure from global competition to boost British manufacturing,
Labour has called for British businesses to be supported through defence spending.
Sir Keir said previously: “Prioritising British businesses through defence spending is not only investment in jobs, but in our communities, and a more secure economy.”
His shadow defence secretary, John Healey added: “Of course, there will be essential equipment or systems which makes strategic sense for Britain to develop with allies or to buy direct from overseas, but we want to see a much higher bar for this.”
The leader of the Labour party, 58, travelled to Plymouth by train before enjoying fish and chips on the Barbican with Plymouth’s Labour MP Luke Pollard.
The Labour leader said there would be ‘long-term investment’ in Plymouth.
He said: “Coming to the college and seeing the skilled work that’s going on here and understanding the challenges of the future, and being able to say when questioned what will you do about it, to answer and say build British by default.
“That’s what people want to hear, that you’re prepared to invest longterm in places like Plymouth. Plymouth has huge skills and fantastic history, it can have and will have a fantastic future.
“But it needs politicians locally and nationally who buy into the idea that we’ve got the skills we need here we just need to have a plan to ensure they’re the jobs and skills of the future.”
The Labour leader’s visit came as MoD chiefs were in the final stages of negotiating deals for Royal Navy work at Devonport Dockyard for years to come – with thousands of jobs in the balance.
Babcock International Group is expected to win four Government contracts worth hundreds of millions, which will see warship refit work continue at Devonport.
The MoD is in the process of finalising 11 separate Royal Navy contracts with dockyard operators and supply companies as part of a £5.2bn package which supports more than 9,400 jobs in Britain.