The UK government will launch a “national endeavour” to reinforce the country’s nuclear deterrent, including a promise to invest more than £760mn with industry over the next six years into critical skills and infrastructure.
Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, will on Monday also announce a separate £200mn investment into a “transformation fund” for Barrow-in-Furness, the Cumbrian town where Britain’s nuclear submarines are built by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy. Barrow has suffered from health inequalities, poor housing and some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country despite multiple attempts at lasting regeneration.
The investments come as the government prepares to set out how it plans to sustain and modernise the UK’s nuclear deterrent in a new Defence Command Paper. It follows concerns that ageing infrastructure and a lack of investment were undermining the effectiveness of the deterrent, a cornerstone of Britain’s defence posture.