Part of the investment, which will create thousands of jobs, will go towards building warships in the face of rising Russian aggression
Don't Miss
Most Read
Trending on GB News
Boris Johnson is set to announce a £4billion cash injection to fund the building of 150 new naval and civil vessels.
Three of which will be warships that will increase support for European defence capability in the face of rising Russian aggression.
The investment is part of a new National Shipbuilding Strategy which aims to also provide support to UK shipyards across the nation to upskill workers, create jobs and drive technology development.
The Prime Minister will officially announce the investment today at a Merseyside dockyard where he will also meet with apprentices and shipbuilding experts to understand how the Government investment is levelling up communities across the country.
After which, the Ministry of Defence will publish the refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSbS) which will outline how the Government will support UK shipyards.
The Prime Minister has said: “Shipbuilding has been in our blood for centuries and I want to ensure it remains at the heart of British industry of generations to come.
“The National Shipbuilding Strategy will transform this important and crucial industry, creating jobs, driving technology development and upskilling the shipbuilders of tomorrow, ensuring we are levelling up across every dock, port and shipyard in the UK.
“This will ensure the UK is rightly seen as a shipbuilding power across the world."
As part of the strategy the Department for Transport will invest £206million in the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK-SHORE) to fund research and development in zero emission vessels and infrastructure.
Commenting on the project, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “As Shipbuilding Tsar, I am proud to be announcing our new strategy, this is an exciting time to be involved in the sector.
“With significant investment, we will be levelling-up across our shipbuilding, workforce, from shipyard to supplier, from procurement to designer, creating tens of thousands of new employment opportunities, boosting living standards and pay.
“Our refreshed strategy will see the sector galvanised at a crucial time for our economy and see a vital part of British industry expand and flourish.”
It comes as pressure mounts on the Government to act on the cost-of-living crisis.
During Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called on the Prime Minister to introduce a "windfall tax" on energy providers to ease the burden on the UK taxpayer.
Downing Street will likely hope that this investment in shipbuilding will alleviate some of the pressure on the UK job market as the economy battles through the combination of Covid recovery and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
