It is an honour to represent a constituency with such a proud history of military service. I was proud to attend a number of remembrance services across the constituency last November, including the nation’s largest Armistice Day Parade in Bedworth, to commemorate all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us all safe. It was also my pleasure to welcome the Veterans Minister, Al Carns, to the constituency earlier this year to run the Bedworth Park Run with me and to meet with the Bedworth Armistice Committee.
The government is making huge investments in our armed forces, which is underlined by the Prime Minister’s recent announcement that we will be increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, and to 3% in the next parliament, paid for by reducing spending on foreign aid.
That increase in funding is supporting the largest pay rise for our armed forces in 20 years, with a pay boost of 6% this year. I’m also pleased that the government is taking action to end the scandal of poor-quality military accommodation, ensuring veterans are prioritised for social housing, and legislating to introduce a new independent Armed Forces Commissioner, whose job it will be to advocate for members of the forces and their families. You’re absolutely right that previous government have not done enough to support those who have served our country, so it is so important to me that that is changing under this government.
The government recently completed a comprehensive Defence and Security Review, which looked at the emerging threats facing Britain and the action we need to take to respond to them. As a result of that review, the government are committing to:
- Halting the decline in the size of our army in this parliament, reversing planned Conservative cuts, and increasing the target size of the army to 76,000 in the next parliament.
- Spending £15bn to develop new submarine-launched nuclear warheads – and committing to build 12 nuclear-powered attack submarines in Derby and Barrow, starting in the 2030s.
- Investing £1bn in air and missile defence, £6bn on munitions during this parliament, and opening at least six weapons factories to increase military stockpiles, which currently may last only a few days in a crisis.
- Spending an additional £2 billion on drones, prioritising cheap one-way attack craft and more expensive reusable systems, as well as the creation of a drone centre to share knowledge and better coordinate across the armed forces.
- Developing a home guard, modelled on the army reserves, to ensure the protection of airports, communications sites and other parts of the critical national infrastructure in a major crisis.
In addition to ensuring we can keep the British people safe, our investments in defence are already providing a huge boost to our economy, as we restore our domestic manufacturing and shipbuilding capability. It was recently announced that Norway has signed a £10 billion contract with the UK (the largest ever contract of its kind) to build a combined fleet of 13 Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates – eight British and at least five Norwegian – that will operate jointly in Northern Europe, significantly strengthening NATO’s northern flank. The deal secures 4,000 jobs across the UK, including more than 2,000 in Scottish shipyards, and demonstrates that the UK is restoring our place in the world as a defence superpower and industrial powerhouse.
So please rest assured that I will always stand up for our armed forces and the action needed to keep Britain safe.