Burnham says nuclear sub investment will protect UK and boost jobs

Speaking ahead of a visit to Barrow-in-Furness, where four new Dreadnought-class submarines are being built, the prime minister said: "Security is not only about what we build, it is about who builds it, and who benefits from it."

The project to replace existing nuclear submarines will receive £8.4bn to support progress towards getting the new vessels ready for service.

Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge welcomed progress on the submarine programme but accused Burnham of "failing to commit" to fully funding defence.

Burnham has said he wants to honour the UK's commitments on defence spending - including meeting a Nato target of spending 3.5% of national income by 2035.

Both he and his new Chancellor, John Healey, face the tricky task of finding the extra money needed to fulfil the pledge.

The Dreadnought-class submarines will replace the UK's four Vanguard-class vessels that have been in operation since 1992, carrying Trident missiles to provide a nuclear deterrent.

Those Vanguard submarines are due to be retired in the 2030s, with the Dreadnoughts entering service at the same time.

The project has taken 20 years to get to this stage and was first announced in 2006 by the then Labour Prime Minister, Tony Blair. A decade later, in 2016, MPs formally approved building the new submarines.

Thursday's announcement of £8.4bn marks the start of what has been called the fourth phase of the project.

The spending was already planned, and was included in the Defence Investment Plan, published in the final days of Sir Keir Starmer's government.

The plan set out £63.6bn over the next four years for what is called the Defence Nuclear Enterprise.

The bulk of the money (£47bn) will go on keeping the nuclear submarines in operation, continuing with the Dreadnoughts, starting work on what might replace them in 30 years' time, and constructing several other new submarines and upgrading the UK's naval docks and manufacturing facilities.