Defence industry ‘vital’ to economy amid calls for more spending

THE DEFENCE industry’s importance to the UK’s economy has been underlined in a report which could be used by Gavin Williamson in his Whitehall battle for extra military spending.

The review, commissioned by the Defence Secretary, reveals the industry has an annual turnover of £22bn and supports thousands of jobs.

The work by former Minister Philip Dunne found the defence industry’s contribution included billions of pounds in exports. About 500,000 people were working directly or indirectly in the defence sector, including 25,500 apprentices, the study found.

Scarborough-born Mr Williamson said: “The review shows how vital defence is, not only protecting us from global dangers and safeguarding our national prosperity, but also to our economy by creating thousands of specialist and highly-skilled jobs and creating billions in exports.”

The Defence Secretary has been pushing Chancellor Philip Hammond and Prime Minister Theresa May for extra funding for the military as it adapts to threats including an increasingly assertive Russia, Islamic State extremists and hightech cyber warfare.

In addition to the MoD budget of almost £37bn, defence’s direct contribution to GDP features more than £7bn of exports generated each year on average.