Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, lashed out at Treasury ‘incompetence’ as she demanded the Government awards new defence contracts to British firms
Rachel Reeves’ dithering is putting 20,000 defence jobs at risk, a union chief warned in a blistering attack.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, accused the Treasury of blocking crucial investment promised by Keir Starmer a year ago. Anxious workers in sites across the UK are waiting to find out if vital contracts to make jet planes, helicopters and communications systems will be awarded.
Ms Graham told a rally of 200 workers outside Downing Street: “We have a message for Rachel Reeves. If you have no vision in Britain, if you don’t care where things are made, if you can’t back our industries, maybe you are in the wrong job.”
Unite called on the Government to publish its long-awaited Defence Investment Plan setting out how the extra cash will be spent. Ms Reeves hit back, saying she was proud of the Government’s defence spending surge.
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Failure to award contracts to British firms would be a hammer blow to communities, Ms Graham said. Her fiery words came exactly a year after the PM announced the biggest rise in defence spending since the Cold War.
Ms Graham told The Mirror: “It feels like complete incompetence on getting this over the line now. I’m having conversations with government and I’m being told it’s the Treasury. And you can’t keep having a situation where the Treasury are blocking it.”
And she continued: “If we’re all stacked up ready to go, how is the Treasury allowed to block it? For me, it’s about the thousands of jobs and skills of my members, but equally it’s also about the national security of Britain.”
Unite said the Government’s plan must include the replacement of old RAF fighter jets with new Typhoons, fitted with Rolls Royce engines, equipped with British-built weapons from MBDA. These would be assembled at BAE’s sites in Lancashire.
It has also called for Yeovil-based Leonardo to be awarded a new medium lift helicopter contract. And the MoD’s Military Satellite Communications System (Skynet) must continue to be built in Portsmouth and Stevenage – as it has for the last 20 years – Unite said.
The loss of specialist skills would be felt for generations, Ms Graham warned. She said: “CEOs of a number of these companies are saying ‘look, we’re going to have to make decisions. We can’t be waiting for the moment when the government suddenly wakes up and smells the coffee’.
“If you take Leonardo helicopters, for example, they need this decision now. They need to know that this is going to be done.
“They’re the only bidders, there’s no other choice. There’s no decision to be made, you’re either making these helicopters or you’re not. They need to get on with it.”
And she added: “The Treasury seems to be a drag anchor on things happening. That’s got to stop. You know, Keir needs to get a spine and get on with it, because if he doesn’t do that, then workers are going to be moving away from him in droves.
“We’re talking about 20,000 jobs, and that’s before you start getting into the knock on. If you take Yeovil as a community, if that factory goes, what’s going to happen to the shops around there?
“What’s going to happen to the community?” Unite representative Jed Ellis, who works at Rolls Royce, told The Mirror: “Members are concerned.
“It’s quite confusing for the average employee when they see these big announcements.” Ms Reeves told LBC: “I’m proud to be the Chancellor that has provided the biggest uplift in defence spending since the end of the Cold War. That was the right thing to do.
“We’ve funded it by reducing overseas development assistance, because it is right that we put more money into defence when we see the challenges right across Europe. We’re taking defence spending as a share of GDP to 2.7% by April next year. That will be the highest spending since the last Labour government because it was cut under the conservatives.”
She said the defence investment plan would be fully costed. On February 25 last year, Mr Starmer announced defence spending would rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027.
He said at the time: “In an ever more dangerous world, increasing the resilience of our country so we can protect the British people, resist future shocks and bolster British interests, is vital.”
A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: “This government is backing British jobs, British industry and British innovators.
Since July 2024, we have signed 1,100 major contracts, with 84% of our annual spend going to British companies. Last month, we launched a dedicated Defence Office for Small Business Growth to boost opportunities and access, on top of our commitment to increase spending with SMEs by £2.5 billion by May 2028.
“We are working flat out to finalise the Defence Investment Plan, which will deliver the best kit and technology into the hands of our frontline forces at speed, while investing in and growing the UK economy.
“This is all backed by the biggest boost in defence spending since the Cold War, with an additional £5 billion for defence this financial year alone and £270 billion investment across this Parliament.”