Defence Secretary's speech on threats to the UK

Defence Secretary John Healey set out the scale of threats we face, including from the Russian spy ship Yantar which was threatening UK waters between 5 and 11 November.

Good morning. 

I would like to update you on the threats our country faces and the decisions this government is taking in response. As I speak, a Russian spy ship – the Yantar – is on the edge of UK waters, north of Scotland, having entered the UK's wider waters over the last few weeks. This is a vessel used for gathering intelligence and mapping undersea cables. We deployed a Royal Navy frigate, and RAF P-8 planes to monitor and track the vessel's every move, during which the Yantar directed light lasers at our pilots.

That Russian action deeply dangerous. And this second time this year that this ship – the Yantar - has deployed to UK waters. So, my message to Russia and to Putin, is this:

We see you. We know what you are doing. And if Yantar travels South this week, we are ready. And I want to praise the dedicated and professionalism of our armed forces. They work 24/7, 365 days a year to keep our nation safe.

This is also stark reminder that we are in a new era of threat. Our world is changing. It is less predictable, more dangerous. In the past year alone, we've seen: the Iran-Israel war drag the Middle East close to the brink; armed conflict break out between India and Pakistan; Chinese spies targeting our democracy at home; Putin escalate still further his war in Ukraine; and just this last year we have also seen Europe's skies plagued by drone disruptions; we've seen Russian incursions into NATO airspace double and we've seen 90,000 cyber-attacks on the UK Defence system alone.

This is a new era of threat it demands a new era for defence. An era of hard power, strong allies and sure diplomacy. And as the threat grows, Britain must step up. And we are.

Earlier this year, the Prime Minister said security and defence and I quote, is now:

The central organising principle of government.

The pillar on which everything else stands or falls.  

I have to tell that I'm proud to be part of a government that knows that our first duty is to protect the nation and keep our citizens safe. A government's that made a historic commitment to increasing defence investment. Because our national security does not come for free.  

So today, I will set out how the choices being made by this government – before, during and beyond – the Budget are essential to match these rising threats.

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And also how this investment comes with a fundamentally new  [political content removed] approach. A “defence dividend” that is already boosting British industry, British jobs, British communities.

Back in Opposition, the then Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted his government had “hollowed out and underfunded” the British Armed Forces.

It was a brutal, yet honest assessment. [political content removed]

So, 14 years, they left: [political content removed]

British Army numbers at the lowest level since Napoleon. 

Forces families in damp, leaky terrible homes.  
soldiers on the frontline with kit unsuited to the threats they face.  

And even, the renewal of our nuclear deterrent delayed by years.  

Deliberate austerity decisions. 

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So now in our first year in government:

We brought in the largest pay rise for our forces have seen for more than 20 years.

The biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, with a £5 billion boost this year alone.

[political content removed] bringing back into public ownership 36,000 military family homes.

And the deepest defence reforms to defence in 50 years and the first-of-its-kind Strategic Defence Review, so we can accelerate the transformation and innovation that is necessary to meet these threats in future.

The Chancellor's decisions at this Budget will protect those choices into the future. To make Britain safer, more secure at home and stronger abroad.

There is a double purpose to this new defence investment. And double prize – for our security and our economy.  First, we are developing with Allies a new deal for European security. A new deal that's built on:

A strong, secure, sovereign Ukraine.

A stronger, more integrated NATO.

And European nations innovating at wartime pace.

Put simply, we are getting on with the job that the British people need us – and elected us – to do.

When I became Defence Secretary last year, there was no Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine… there is now. There was no UK-EU Security and Defence Partnership… there is now. There was no UK leadership of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, no Trinity House Agreement with Germany, no reboot of the Lancaster House agreement and treaty with France… there is now. This is Britain, leading from the front – politically, military, industrially. Making Allies our strategic strength. Making our deterrence stronger so Britain is safer, and the British people better off.

And the second purpose and prize in our record defence investment. We are making Defence the engine for economic growth. Securing a ‘defence dividend' for working people – measured in good jobs, growing businesses and new skills across the UK. This is a fundamental shift from the failed approach of the past. Because in this government, every department must be a growth department. For too long, we've seen areas like mine in South Yorkshire, proud industrial heartlands, saw jobs go away and not come back. [political content removed] We are changing that.

Look at South Yorkshire, where we've brought back artillery manufacturing into Britain for the first time in a generation. Look at Barrow, where 1,000 extra jobs since the last election. Look at Sheffield Forgemasters, in public ownership now expanding steel production.

70 per cent of this investment and these jobs are outside London and the South East. So this is not just a promise or a plan for tomorrow. These are good jobs being created today.

This doesn't just happen. This is our [political content removed] Government choice. Directing more defence investment to British jobs, to British firms, to British innovation.

Since the election last July we've signed 1,000 major defence contracts, of which 86 per cent are with British firms. We've generated over £1.7 billion in foreign direct investment into our British defence and we've won major new exports deals, £10 billion for warships to Norway, £8 billion for fighter jets to Turkey.

And today, I can announce a new programme to build factories of the future. 13 potential sites to manufacture munitions and explosives, with construction and diggers in the ground set to start next year. £1.5 billion of new investment, in this parliament creating over 1,000 British jobs - to rearm Britain, to renew our industry, to raise our warfighting readiness of our Armed Forces.  

Because we know Britain's Defence industry has a long, proud history. In the 1930s, workers from Coventry to Tyneside, Cardiff to Belfast went to work building the Spitfires that won the Battle of Britain, building the destroyers that won the Battle of the Atlantic.  

Those workers knew they were part of something bigger. And I tell you; I see that same pride and purpose in the eyes of our shipbuilders on the Clyde, our engineers at Barrow, our coders in Stevenage and our apprentices in Derby, because they know that their long-term future is secured by our long-term investment. 

Security. Prosperity. We build it here in Britain. But we must also innovate. Because technology is changing the nature of war faster than at any point in human history. So, alongside the ‘heavy metal' of planes, ships, munitions - we will accelerate the power of drones, of AI, of autonomy so that we give our British Armed Forces the advantage on the battlefield.

So that's why later today I will be in Plymouth opening a new Helsing factory where they make sea and undersea drones.

And if we look forward in 5 years' time - in Opposition, Keir Starmer made that commitment to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence – we're delivering it 3 years earlier than anyone expected. We made a clear NATO-first commitment, we're delivering it. We said we would reset relations with Europe, we're delivering it. We promised more British-based defence investment, we're delivering it. And the Chancellor's decisions at this Budget are part of making Britain safer, stronger and more successful.

So, within this Parliament I want:

• Britain to become the best place in the world to invest and grow a defence business. 
• Britain's Armed Forces to be the fastest innovating military in NATO.
• British government investment in defence to be matched by rising private investment.
• And our communities right across Britain, to see working people with new skills, new jobs and a new hope for their families and their future.

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Because we know at the heart of defence – military and industrial – has always been the working class.  So, like those who came before us, we rearm in the face of threats. We confront dictators. We boost our defence industry.

And in the process, we can unite our country around a common purpose.  That's what this budget will be about: strong foundations to secure Britain's future. [political content removed] Delivering for defence. Delivering for Britain.