Reindustrialisation of Britain can help bolster the country’s defence capabilities

Defence spending should not just be about reaching the 3 per cent GDP target. Britain needs to grasp the economic opportunity that the obvious requirement to increase defence spending presents.

Andy Burnham is already on the right track with his drive to favour British procurement across the public sector and there’s no reason why that should not be the case on defence.

It won’t be easy, there will be a lot of pressure from the US for the Government to spend UK taxpayers money with American defence contractors.

Burnham’s announcement of a £8.4bn investment in the next stage of the Dreadnought nuclear deterrent submarine build programme is to be welcomed on both fronts, bolstering the country’s defence capabilities while also stimulating the economy.

The Government says the investment in the programme supports tens of thousands of jobs and thousands of companies across the UK supply chain, including 22,000 apprenticeships by 2035.

The PM’s plans to reindustrialise Britain can sit well with the drive to bolster the country’s defence capabilities.

The reality is that the world is becoming a far more dangerous place. Recent incursions by Russian vessels near UK waters show the threat that the country faces.

The Prime Minister will have little choice but to deliver the 3 per cent GDP spend on defence. Especially as it was his Chancellor John Healey, who precipitated the eventual downfall of Sir Keir Starmer’s government, after he resigned over a lack of funding for the Defence Investment Plan. Delivering that funding means difficult decisions have to be made.