I was involved in a panel discussion about defence expenditure this week. A trade union activist I greatly respect justified his argument against providing military aid to Ukraine by invoking a Putin-propagated myth. The essence of this conspiracy theo…Read more…
Defence in an Independent Scotland
The Scottish Government has published the latest policy paper in its Building a New Scotland series, An Independent Scotland’s Place in the World. This paper sets out its vision for an independent Scotland’s foreign, defence, and security policy. If yo…Read more…
Defence and security in an uncertain world
Everyone is suddenly talking about defence. Britain’s Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders, discussed a ‘citizen’s army’. This has sparked nostalgia for National Service in some quarters (which Sanders rejected) and a more serious de…Read more…
‘It shouldn’t be like this’
Unite members in Deeside, North Wales, employed by DE&S DECA, formerly known as the Defence Electronics and Components Agency, are currently out on strike in a dispute over pay.
Following over a decade of extremely low pay increases, workers voted overwhelmingly to support strike action and began a series of 24 hour strikes in October 2023.
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Naval Shipbuilding – UK by Default
I was at the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Maritime and Shipbuilding this afternoon to present a report I wrote for Prospect, Design, build and maintain: Effective defence procurement. The report describes the current defence procurem…Read more…
Defence Strategy Refresh
All governments have a defence strategy, which typically outlines the threats and how the government proposes to respond to those threats. The current UK strategy claims to be an integrated review of defence, development and foreign policy. However, it…Read more…
Effective defence procurement
I was in Westminster this week at the launch of a paper on defence procurement I wrote for the Prospect trade union. The launch included interesting contributions from the Shadow Minster for Defence Procurement, Chris Evans MP, Andrew Kinniburgh (…Read more…
‘Investing in jobs and communities at home’
Unite called for the government to prioritise UK jobs and industries when issuing defence contracts at Congress in Brighton on Wednesday (October 19). Supporting composite two on economic recovery and manufacturing jobs, the union said hundreds of thousands of skilled workers in shipbuilding, defence, steelmaking and other industries are all being failed by a government […]
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Unite Statement on ACC Arms Fair
Unite acknowledges the concerns which have been raised by many in Liverpool and beyond in relation to the Arms Fair being held at ACC, shortly before Unite’s own conference takes place there. We have…Read more…
‘Wonderful news’
This week, it was announced that the beleaguered steel engineering firm Sheffield Forgemasters would be taken into public hands, after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) bought out the firm in a £2.6m…Read more…
‘Cast iron guarantees’ on UK defence spending call
Unite has cautiously welcomed this week’s defence spending announcement – but warned that it must be used to create and support jobs and communities in the UK amid a national employment crisis. On…Read more…
Support UK defence
Unite has hailed the support the union received at a lobby of Parliament earlier this week (May 13), where Unite reps pressed the case for the continued funding of Tempest, the UK’s replacement of…Read more…
Urgent talks call
Unite has called for urgent talks with the Marshall Group, one of Cambridge’s biggest employers, following the company’s announcement today (May 14) that it plans to move out of the city by 2030….Read more…
Back UK defence jobs call
Unite representatives from BAE Systems, Leonardo, MBDA and Rolls Royce headed to parliament today (May 13) urging MPs to ensure the continued funding for Tempest, the UK’s replacement of the Typhoon…Read more…
‘UK ship workers betrayed’
Inviting foreign firms to bid on a £1bn government contract to build Royal Navy support ships abroad has turned Britain into a “laughing stock” and is a betrayal of UK ship workers, Unite warned MPs…Read more…
Save shipyard plea
Devon shipbuilding workers travelled to Parliament today (October 30) to hand in an 8,000-signature petition calling on the government to step up and save the embattled Appledore Shipyard. …Read more…
UK defence worker betrayal
The production of the Royal Air Force’s new fleet of surveillance aircraft could be outsourced to the US, a move Unite says would be a further betrayal of UK defence workers by the Tories. The…Read more…
Defence jobs threat
Proposals by defence giant Babcock to close its site in Colchester, Essex, with the threat of 55 job losses, has ‘exposed’ the company’s shortcomings, Unite said today (August 6). Unite called…Read more…
‘Fantastic victory’
Unite praised the determined campaigning of its defence representatives after the defence secretary Gavin Williamson on Tuesday (July 17) confirmed plans to develop a next generation fighter aircraft…Read more…
‘Back UK defence workers’ call
Defence workers from the across the UK will be heading to parliament tomorrow (July 10) to call on MPs to back their campaign for the navy’s three new Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships to be built in…Read more…