MoDAndy Burnham has announced an £8.4 billion investment for nuclear submarines to get the new HMS Dreadnought through its sea trials and ready for service by the 2030s.
The nuclear-armed submarines are set to replace the current Vanguard Class when they enter service and will be capable of launching Trident 2 D5 ballistic missiles.
They will be powered by a Rolls-Royce nuclear propulsion system, produced in Derby, giving them almost unlimited range.
HMS Dreadnought is the first of four new nuclear submarines.
While the money will support the first boat’s progress towards being ready for service, some of the cash will go towards getting the second boat, HMS Valiant, to its sea trials phase.
Manufacturers will also be supported to get the third and fourth boats through their construction phases.
Prime Minister Burnham said: “Keeping this country safe is the first responsibility of any Government.
“But security is not only about what we build, it is about who builds it, and who benefits from it.
“The submarines produced in Barrow will protect Britain for decades to come, and the 47,000 jobs and apprenticeships will change lives both in this town and in dozens of places like it.
“British money, spent on British workers, British firms and British skills, in the places that were written off for 40 years.
“To every young person across the country, I want you to know that there is a path for you into a reindustrialised Britain and it starts with the apprenticeships we are funding through this investment today.”
The Prime Minister’s announcement on Thursday will follow his pledge to tackle joblessness among young people.
On a visit earlier this week to Alstom, a rail manufacturer in Derby, Burnham said the “first thing” he needed to do was stop the rise in young people not in education, employment or training (Neet).
The latest data, published in May, showed the number of young people aged 16-24 neither working nor learning passed one million for the first time since 2013, reaching 1.01 million in the three months from January to March.
“It would be wrong to blame the young people when we have an education system that doesn’t set them up properly, where some struggle to find opportunities at 16, where work experience and work placements aren’t there for them,” Burnham said.
“We’ve got to put those building blocks in place, and then, in time, that number will come down.”
The wider UK Defence Nuclear Enterprise is thought to support around 47,000 jobs, including 9,000 in Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire, 8,000 at Devonport naval base in Plymouth, and 13,500 at Barrow in Cumbria.
On the Dreadnought Class submarine programme, £5.9 billion of the £8.4 billion will go to BAE Systems, with £2.5 billion for the wider supply chain.
Burnham faces questions about his defence policies, including how he will pay for a commitment to reach 3.5% of GDP on defence spending by 2035.
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