Defence Industrial Strategy 2025: Economic Growth and Job Creation

Lord Harper Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I accept the point with respect to the publication of the defence investment plan. As the noble and gallant Lord will know, that will be published as soon as it is ready. Look at what has been happening. Noble Lords across this Chamber demanded that the Government spend money on Leonardos, and we announced investment in them just recently. We have also invested huge sums of money on the Clyde and at Rosyth to build new ships. We are investing huge sums of money to develop the dockyards in Plymouth to improve the availability of the submarines, and we are also making numerous investments, such as in Rolls-Royce, with a £9 billion nuclear programme over the next few years. I understand the point the noble and gallant Lord is making, but the Government are not standing still—we are already spending billions of pounds investing in our defence industry.

[Lord Harper (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

It is the turn of the Conservative Benches.

[Lord Harper (Con)]

My Lords, may I press the Minister a little on the point that the noble and gallant Lord just raised about the defence investment plan? When I asked him about this in January, he referred to the comments of the Secretary of State at the beginning of January that the Government were working flat out to get this plan done, and there were rumours that it would be ready for the spring. Looking at the pleasant weather outside, spring seems to have arrived. When will the defence investment plan arrive? People will judge the Government not on what they say but on what they do.

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I understand the point the noble Lord is making, and it raised some mirth in here, but the defence investment plan will be published when it is ready and when the Government have made the decisions about matching the budget to the capabilities they want. These capabilities should be matched to the demands of the future, learning the lessons of Ukraine.

As I said to the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, the Government are not waiting for the defence investment plan before investing billions of pounds in our defence industry across the country, in the ways I laid out. I go back to the point about the Leonardos. We did not wait for the defence investment plan to do that: £1 billion is going to be spent to ensure we have helicopters. Numerous noble Lords have also been to Rosyth and the Clyde and have seen the ships being built there. This Government are investing in our defence industry, and the defence investment plan will be published when it is ready.