Gareth Streeter has welcomed the government’s decision to usher in a new golden age of British shipbuilding.
Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Defence, has announced a new shipbuilding programme, with up to 28 warships and submarines being built or in the pipeline. This important programme has been made possible by the Conservative’s commitment to boost defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 – a commitment that the Labour Party has failed to match.
The Defence Secretary has also reiterated the government’s commitment not to scrap or mothball Plymouth-based HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark until 2032 at the earliest.
Gareth Streeter, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Plymouth Sutton & Devonport says, “Defence of the realm is the first responsibility of government. This commitment to the future of shipbuilding, based on a spending commitment that Labour has refused to match, shows that our national security is only safe in the hands of the Conservatives.
“In recent weeks, Plymouth’s current Labour MP has been scaremongering around the future of Albion and Bulwark – two Devonport vessels – despite the fact that ministers had previously confirmed there were no plans to retire them early. Given the clarity provided by this announcement, he should apologise for his behaviour and confirm whether Labour will protect both our national security and Plymouth’s economy by matching our spending plans. A failure to give this clarity will show that he is more interested in playing politics with our armed forces than in the defence of the realm.”
