SNP’s naive and immature approach to defence industry needs to change

Anyone who thought that Scotland had a grown-up government capable of taking sensible decisions will be appalled by the choices the SNP are making

Vanguard-class submarine HMS Vigilant, one of the four UK subs armed with Trident nuclear missiles, at HM Naval Base Clyde

The events of the last week in the Middle East throw into focus ever more sharply the need for Western governments to increase defence capabilities. With the war in Ukraine now well into its fourth year, and with an increasingly isolationist US administration, that means countries like the UK having to devote more resources to military spending.

The UK Labour Government is at least giving the appearance of taking this seriously, with the announcement in last week’s spending review from the Chancellor Rachel Reeves that defence spending will rise from 2.3 per cent of GDP to 2.6 per cent by 2027. If delivered, this equates to an £11 billion uplift coupled with the £600 million increase for security and intelligence agencies. Within these totals there will be £4.5 billion investment in munitions made across the country, and more than £6 billion to upgrade nuclear submarine production.

These commitments are important in terms of the obligation on government to properly defend the realm. But they also have a significant economic opportunity attached, and one which will disproportionately benefit Scotland. Already, Scotland’s defence sector provides a considerable contribution to the Scottish economy. As of 2023-24, the Ministry of Defence spends almost £2.1 billion per year in Scotland, and more per head of population than in the rest of the UK.

Of course, we don’t just make military equipment for the UK armed forces. The contribution of the Aerospace, Defence and Security industries to Scotland was estimated at £3.2 billion in 2022, employing 35,500 people and 1,500 apprentices. Right across the country, we see companies providing high-quality well-paid jobs in the STEM sector as part of ADS: BAE Systems building frigates on the Clyde for the Royal Navy and directly employing 2,700 people, Babcock at Rosyth and Faslane supporting more than 3,000 jobs.

Leonardo, under different names, long part of the Edinburgh economy, building world-leading avionics, and supplying radar systems for Lockheed Martin amongst others. Thales employing nearly 800 people across two sites in Glasgow and Rosyth. And we have Raytheon in Glenrothes manufacturing the Javelin anti-tank missile being used to great effect by the Ukrainian army against Russian invaders.

As it stands, the contribution of defence to the Scottish economy is substantial, and is projected to grow. With governments across the West, including our own, committed to increasing defence spending, the opportunities for expansion and the creation of yet more jobs are substantial.

One might expect, therefore, that the Scottish Government would be celebrating this defence sector, and doing all it can to support this key sector. We are, after all, continually being told by SNP ministers how much they value the Scottish economy and how they are committed to seeing it grow – a welcome change in rhetoric from the period when they were in coalition with the anti-growth Greens.

It was immensely disappointing, therefore, to see that a plan by Rolls-Royce to establish a specialist submarine welding facility on the Clyde has collapsed after Scottish Enterprise withdrew a critical £2.5 million grant for the project. This was an £11 million investment which would have delivered a world-leading facility to support the construction and maintenance of submarines. It was a project that had been developing for years and would have reduced costs, reduced carbon emissions, and created high-value jobs.

But as a consequence of SNP policy not permitting public funds to be used for “munitions” the project cannot receive the funding it seeks, leaving Rolls-Royce with no option but to pull the plug. Steve Carlier, President of Submarines at the company, has stated that: “The project cannot continue, and the facility will not be built and resourced in Scotland.”

Now it looks like another part of the UK, or even another country altogether, will get the benefit of this investment, and these jobs, due to SNP policy. And yet, as Carlier himself has pointed out, this was not a project involving weapons systems, but simply to build nuclear-powered submarines.

The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, Andrew Bowie MP, put it accurately when he accused the SNP of “student politics”. It is a naive and immature approach to the defence sector, which will simply do immense damage to the Scottish economy.

The SNP have an ambition, as we all know, to create an independent Scotland. Presumably that independent Scotland would have to have armed forces to defend it, who would then need to be supplied with weaponry and equipment. Is it really the SNP’s position that these could not be produced at home, but would be better produced elsewhere? Because that is the logic of their refusal to support projects such as Rolls-Royce’s naval welding centre.

If that were not bad enough, we learnt at the weekend that the Scottish Government have apparently attached conditions to a donation of surplus NHS equipment to Ukraine, stipulating that this must only be used for civilian purposes. This means that those injured in the fight against the despotic government of Vladimir Putin and his illegal invasion of a sovereign country will not be able to benefit from these welcome donations.

Anyone who thought that Scotland had a grown-up government capable of taking sensible decisions will be appalled by the choices the SNP are making. This week at Holyrood the Scottish Conservatives will be asking the SNP to think again on their policy towards supporting defence jobs in Scotland.

I sincerely hope that John Swinney and Kate Forbes will be listening. If they fail to do so, their continual insistence that they support the Scottish economy, and well-paid jobs and apprenticeships, will be exposed as utterly hollow.