George Osborne announces £500m funding for Faslane submarine base in new push for Trident programme
Chancellor George Osborne has pledged £500m for the Royal Navy’s submarine base at Faslane, funding he says will create “thousands” of jobs.
The base in Faslane, one of the UK’s three naval hubs, is home to Britain’s Trident programme, with four submarines armed with Trident missiles based there.
Faslane currently employs some 6,700 people, and the Treasury says that on top of securing these jobs, the funding announced today will create thousands more.
Osborne has said that the money will be going towards major infrastructure projects at the base over the next decade starting in 2017, including new jetties and sea walls.
The future of Britain’s Trident programme is set to be decided next year, when MPs must vote on the £23bn renewal of the nuclear deterrent. Today’s funding is a further show of the Conservative government’s commitment to it – but both Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn and the Scottish National Party (SNP) could prove hurdles.
Corbyn, currently leading the polls, has set out a vision for nuclear disarmament, and disarmament is also a central part of the SNP’s platform, with 54 of Scotland’s 59 MPs oppose Trident renewal.