Prime minister visits shipyard to launch nuclear submarine replacement programme

Andy Burnham visited Barrow-in-Furness on Thursday to launch the next stage of Britain's nuclear submarine programme. He became Prime Minister just over a week ago. The visit focused on the Dreadnought-class submarines, which will replace the current Vanguard fleet. They are budgeted at £31 billion. The submarines are being built at the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow, which employs around 13,500 people. Across the UK, nuclear defence work supports 47,000 jobs in total. Burnham committed to a NATO target to raise defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035, an increase of more than £25 billion a year. Labour won back the Barrow constituency at the 2024 election. Burnham has framed large defence projects as a way to invest in regional economies.