Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak duelled over defence on Friday, with the Labour leader vowing to enhance Britain’s submarine nuclear deterrent despite facing painful constraints on public spending.
The Prime Minister responded that Labour could not be trusted on defence as he met veterans to launch a £2.1 million scheme to support them into work after they leave the military.
“The courageous men and women who have served in our Armed Forces represent the very best of our country and we must serve them as well as they have served us,” Mr Sunak said.
But heading into an election this year, Sir Keir parked Labour tanks firmly on Conservative lawns as he headed to Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, where the next generation of Trident nuclear submarines is being built.
“In the face of rising global threats and growing Russian aggression, Labour’s commitment to our UK nuclear deterrent is total,” Sir Keir said, calling Trident the “bedrock” of defence, three weeks after the PM himself visited BAE Systems Submarines in Barrow.
The Labour leader promised a “triple lock” on nuclear deterrence including a “cast-iron commitment” to build the four new Dreadnought subs in Barrow, a vow to maintain Britain’s continuous at-sea deterrent, and to deliver all future upgrades needed to the Trident system.
He promised to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP - provided that it fits within shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves’s tight fiscal constraints. That matches a promise made by the PM, also on condition that budget conditions allow at some point in future.
The Tories noted that Sir Keir had campaigned to put the anti-Nato Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into 10 Downing Street, while the SNP accused him of a “grotesque” misuse of scarce public funds.
But the Labour leader stressed that: “The changed Labour Party I lead knows that our nation’s defence must always come first.”
Sir Keir and shadow defence secretary John Healey were joined in Barrow by Australia’s High Commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith. They affirmed Labour’s “total commitment” to the AUKUS security pact which, with US involvement, will see Britain help to build nuclear subs for Australia.
Sir Keir said that Britain’s role within AUKUS “should not only defend our shared interests, but ramp up local jobs and growth in communities across Britain”.
But Defence Secretary Grant Shapps accused the Labour leader of seeking to distract attention from questions over a property sale by his deputy, Angela Rayner.
In a bombshell development, Greater Manchester Police announced on Friday that they were investigating Ms Rayner over the controversy.
