Mail Weekly Column: 19 September 2021
Today I’d like to focus on something that for more than 100 years has helped to make Barrow truly exceptional.
This week saw an announcement by the UK, the US and Australia that they are to forge a closer defence pact in a catchily-named deal, AUKUS. The first stage will be a fleet of new nuclear-powered submarines to counter the shifting geo-political landscape and what is being seen as a growing threat from China.
This is huge news, both nationally and globally, and represents a major repositioning. As the UK seeks to deepen its engagement in the Indo-Pacific – this news bears testament to the extraordinary contribution our shipyard will make to this objective. The only reason that this is even feasible is because of the work that goes on there, the skills of the people from our community who work there, and the submarines that have been created there since Holland 1 was launched in 1901.
Those boats have kept us, NATO and NATO allies safe throughout so many years. It is a truly national endeavour, and the AUKUS deal is a recognition of that.
So for those who are working in the shipyard (which is 1 in 3 of the working age population!), no matter the role you play there, or at what level, I wanted to emphasise that not only our government recognises your achievements, but the US and Australian governments do too - a truly remarkable achievement.
While we await the detail of exactly how these proposals will play out, we do expect that it will lead to the creation of more jobs, and major investment in our region.
On Friday there was also an announcement of another £85 million investment in the SSNR programme, which is the work to replace the Astute class fast attack nuclear submarines when they reach end-of-life. The confirmation that the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy are backing this promises a long and dependable pipeline of work ahead. We already had 30+ years of work on the books, but this puts the community on an even more sturdy footing in terms of jobs, investment, the shipyard and, indeed, the local community and economy too.
It is easy to forget that people who live here and work in the shipyard are contributing to our national safety, a feat of massive importance to our country and beyond, and on a scale rarely seen today. They keep us safe, and they keep our neighbours safe. Their skills in engineering are of a scale rarely seen today, and what launches from the shipyard is rivalled only by the International Space Station in complexity.
We should all be incredibly proud that these announcements acknowledge what over 10,000 in our community achieve day-by-day in this small but very exceptional corner of Cumbria.
