John Healey – 2021 Comments on the Defence Sector

The comments made by John Healey, the Shadow Defence Secretary, on 6 April 2021.

The Prime Minister has already broken promises made to military personnel by cutting 10,000 posts in the Army. On the Tories’ watch, we have also lost tens of thousands of jobs across the industry and wasted time on key contracts.

Of course, there will be essential equipment or systems which makes strategic sense for Britain to develop with allies or to buy direct from overseas, but we want to see a much higher bar for this.

When done well, defence spending has a multiplier effect, strengthening our UK economy. Covid has exposed the risks of relying on foreign supply chains. Labour’s ‘British by default’ policy would strengthen the UK’s sovereignty and security.