(Image: Gordon Terris)
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has told defence firms there is “neither an economic nor a moral justification” for hiring thousands of workers from overseas while young Britons are out of work.
The warning comes in a column for The Herald, where the minister promised that £298 billion of spending on defence would deliver jobs and skills in Scotland.
Last year, The Herald told how Babcock was forced to hire 300 welders from the Philippines to work at its Rosyth yard in October 2025, a decision it said it had to take because of a lack of skilled local applicants.
The firm is building the Royal Navy's five Type 31 frigates under a contract worth around £1.25 billion.
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A recent report by the Scottish Affairs Committee revealed the issue is widespread across Scotland's defence industry, with acute shortages of welders, fabricators, steelworkers, engineers and naval architects.
Trade body ADS told the committee it was monitoring 10,000 live engineering vacancies across Scotland alone, while Thales said Scotland was nearly 9,000 apprenticeships short of what was needed in 2024.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting during a visit to Babcock in Rosyth (Image: Jane Barlow/PA)
However, demand for training far outstrips supply. Colleges Scotland estimated there were 40 applicants for every available place on apprenticeship and engineering courses.
Under Sir Keir Starmer, the Government promised to raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and 3% in the next Parliament, with NATO allies committed to 3.5% by 2035.
The Defence Investment Plan promises £298 billion over four years, taking the Ministry of Defence budget from £62 billion in 2025/26 to £79.1 billion in 2029/30.
Mr Streeting said the increase in defence spending was "an opportunity to strengthen the Scottish economy, rebuild its industrial base, and create better opportunities for the next generation".
He said the sector directly supports 12,200 jobs in Scotland, with thousands more in the supply chain and support industries.
He wrote that the UK Government's defence investment over four years was a chance to "repair the damage of Britain's old economic model where too many places were expected to live with their decline".
The minister said Scotland had the businesses, universities, workforce and industrial heritage to "make that happen".
"My job is to connect those strengths to the investment now coming into defence," he added.
The Defence Secretary said that would mean closer working between industry, colleges and unions, and that major programmes "should carry an expectation that they build skills and supply chains across Britain, including here in Scotland".
"That, in turn, will mean more young people see their future here.
"There is neither an economic nor a moral justification for our defence sector hiring thousands of workers from abroad when we have one million young people out of work here at home."
He added: "Defence firms in Scotland can help change the odds with high-quality apprenticeships in engineering, digital technology, cyber, nuclear and advanced manufacturing.
"That is important because investment in our defence will only command lasting public support if people can see how it improves their lives."
BAE Systems Govan shipyard (Image: Jamie Simpson/NQ)
Mr Streeting said every pound spent on defence should be judged by "what it does for Britain and for Scotland".
"Does it strengthen local economies? Does it create an apprenticeship for someone's daughter? Does it support a family business?
"That is what national renewal looks like at a local level. Backing the people, places and businesses that strengthen our national security and drive economic growth."
John Healey, Mr Streeting's predecessor as defence secretary, resigned in June, arguing the Defence Investment Plan did not commit enough money. He wrote: "I am certain that a headmark date for 3% of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set."
Mr Healey, now Chancellor, has said the path to 3% will be set out at next year's Spending Review rather than at Wednesday's Budget.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said in its Green Budget that the current plan holds defence spending at 2.7% of national income from 2027-28 to 2029-30.
The thinktank estimated that raising spending to 3% by 2030-31 would cost £3 billion more than current plans in 2028-29, £7 billion more in 2029-30 and £11 billion more in 2030-31.
It said reaching 3.5% by 2035 would mean around £25 billion a year more than existing plans, in today's terms.
Mr Streeting's column in The Herald comes just days after he warned that Britain's adversaries could be in a position to attack by 2030, giving the country "a little over 1,000 days" to prepare. The Government has also launched a "be ready" campaign urging households to stock three days of food and water.
"We are living in a new age of insecurity," the Defence Secretary said. "The threats we face are real and they are getting closer to home. But with that challenge comes opportunity.
"Across Scotland, you are showing what that can mean: defence delivered by British workers and British businesses.
"That is how we will build a country ready to fight and a Britain worth fighting for."
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In their report, the MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee also warned that competition for welders, pipefitters and electrical technicians from offshore wind, oil and gas and nuclear energy risks defence employers draining other sectors' workforces rather than increasing the overall supply of skills.
BAE Systems Govan shipyard (Image: Jamie Simpson/NQ)
Last week, the Scottish Government confirmed it would match the £10 million offered by the Ministry of Defence to establish two Defence Technical Excellence Colleges in Scotland.
The offer was first made in March, when the Ministry of Defence set out plans for two colleges in the east and west of Scotland.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The Innovation Minister recently confirmed Scottish Government investment of £10 million for Defence Technical Excellence Colleges in Scotland.
"Our Programme for Government committed to establishing a responsible defence industrial growth programme to maximise the economic opportunities arising from increased defence spending. We will work with partners to ensure our workers are equipped with the right skills for emerging jobs in this vital sector.
"The Scottish Government will support at least 150,000 apprenticeship opportunities during this Parliament, and develop an Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant to help employers — particularly small and medium enterprises — invest in the workforce of the future.
"The Annual Participation Measure showed in 2025 that 93.3% of 16 to 19-year-olds in Scotland were in education, employment or training. We remain focused on getting that number even higher."
Pictured is the new type 26 frigate HMS Glasgow that is being outfitted at the BAE Systems shipyard (Image: Colin Mearns)