ANDY Burnham's commitment to spend more than £8 billion on new nuclear submarines, putting the Trident missile system at the heart of his government's spending plans, has been slammed as a "woeful" approach.
Burnham on Tuesday travelled to Barrow-in-Furness to launch the next phase of Westminster's £31bn submarine replacement programme, which was further committed to under Keir Starmer after being drafted in 2007.
The new wave of contracts will see more than £8.4bn spent on new Dreadnought submarines, which are set to be the new generation of Trident-carrying submarines, with BAE Systems being the biggest benefactor, receiving more than £5bn.
The UK Government claims the programme will support close to 18,000 jobs, in addition to 22,000 apprenticeships.
But this approach to spending and employment policy has been slammed by the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
"This is not a case study of military spending revitalising communities," campaigns officer Samuel Rafanell-Williams said, instead describing it as a "woeful plan" which has become "a matter of dogma for the Labour Party".
He explained that: "Burnham's policy of nuclear militarism and a war economy is in full continuity with that of his failed predecessors.
"Today he promotes continuing to pour good money after bad into BAE in a misguided attempt to 're-industrialise' Britain."
He went on to say that "Burnham has no questions to ask about BAE's own record of delivery, with submarines years behind schedule and performing poorly."
In recent years, the Dreadnought programme has faced criticism from within the Government, being rated on an amber alert by the military's procurement watchdog, due to the scale, complexity and financial risk of the programme.
There are “major issues” that do not seem to be “manageable or resolvable”, it said.
In response, the Ministry of Defence said it is working with its construction partners, namely Rolls-Royce which makes the nuclear-powered engines for the submarines, "to improve delivery confidence, including by increasing production rates and improving manufacturing resilience”.
Rolls-Royce Submarines added: "We remain confident in our ability to deliver to the required core delivery date for Dreadnought.”
The BAE-built Astute-class submarines have also been hit with prolonged challenges with maintenance, with it being reported in June that the UK did not have any active deployable attack submarines as all five vessels were awaiting repairs and were stuck in docks.
Rafanell-Williams also raised concerns about defence lobbying in Westminster, citing a report from the Campaign against Arms Trade and the World Peace Foundation, which found BAE Systems, the UK's largest arms manufacturer, was able to secure an average of one meeting with MPs every three days between 2012 and 2023.
"Clearly, BAE Systems' more than 1200 lobbying visits to the UK government over the past decade - more than any other private company - continue to pay off. Burnham's policy of nuclear militarism and a war economy is in full continuity with that of his failed predecessors," he said.
"Today he promotes continuing to pour good money after bad into BAE in a misguided attempt to 're-industrialise' Britain. But Barrow-in-Furness, where BAE Systems has its submarine factory, is one of the most deprived areas of the whole country. This is not a case study of military spending revitalising communities.
"Burnham has no questions to ask about BAE's own record of delivery, with submarines years behind schedule and performing poorly. For almost two months, none of the BAE-built Astute submarines have been available for deployment, with some in maintenance docks for years. The Government's own infrastructure watchdog has also rated the Trident-firing Dreadnought submarine programme poorly for consecutive years.
"Nuclear militarism as an industrial programme is a woeful plan, but has clearly become a matter of dogma for the Labour Party.
"This bodes dreadfully for the new Prime Minister's ambitious plans to revitalise the country."
