The UK Government’s long-delayed defence spending plans will free up cash for the country’s nuclear submarine base – with a defence minister telling MPs that “massive investment” is needed at Faslane.
Luke Pollard claimed that the “austerity policies” implemented by the previous Conservative government had “left a real backlog” of work that needs to be done at the Clyde base.
He stressed the importance of Faslane in keeping the UK safe as he spoke out about the changing nature of the threat the country faces.
Speaking about the base, which is home to the UK’s nuclear submarines, the defence readiness minister said: “We need good facilities to dock the submarines, we need good facilities to maintain the submarines and we need good facilities for our people who work there.
“At the moment, it’s fair to say, what we inherited doesn’t deliver all three of those.”
The minister added that “some areas of Scotland that haven’t had some of the infrastructure upgrades that have been required, Faslane being a really good example of that”.
But Mr Pollard went on to tell MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee that they could “expect to see investment in Faslane, in particular in the Dip (Defence Investment Plan)”.
He said: “We’re going to have to spend large amounts of capital spending upgrading the submarine infrastructure on the Clyde to make sure we can meet the threats we’re facing and we are dealing with a backlog of underinvestment, especially in some of those capital projects.”
While publication of the government’s plans have been delayed, with former defence secretary John Healey and armed forces minister Al Carns both quitting Sir Keir Starmer’s Government amid concerns over spending, Mr Pollard said he had “stayed to help complete the Dip when two of my colleagues resigned”.
He added that people “won’t have to wait very much longer” for publication of the Dip, noting that Chancellor Rachel Reeves was “confident” this will be done before Sir Keir and new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis “get on a plane to Ankara for the Nato summit”, which is taking place over July 7 and 8.
His comments came as he highlighted the importance of defence bases in Scotland in keeping the UK safe, noting the role of both the quick reaction aircraft based at RAF Lossiemouth, and the “missions that leave from Faslane for our submarines”.
Mr Pollard said: “The contribution that Scotland makes to keeping our nation safe is real and it is visible and it is every day, all day.
“Scotland is a key part in delivering our national security.”
His comments came as he told MPs on the committee about the changing nature of conflict.
Mr Pollard said: “The way that conflict is changing means that in the contest we are in with Russia, in particular, we might not be getting missiles or artillery shells coming over our border in the way that Ukraine is, but we are certainly seeing the undermining of our institutions, grey zone attacks and cyber attacks against the United Kingdom.
“We are responding to that with increased investment in our cyber defences.
“But that also means we’ve got to tell a different story about what conflict looks like today.”
