UK Submarine Fleet

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship for the second time this afternoon, Dr Murrison. There are slightly fewer people at this debate than the last one, but it is equally important. I commend the hon. Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) for his contribution. He is making a habit of picking subjects that all of us are interested in. I am particularly interested in this one.

Our submarine fleet is of major importance to the Royal Navy. It massively supports our defence role and is critically important for the future. Other countries are building up their fleets of ships, boats and submarines, and, in the interest of our national security, we in the United Kingdom should make sure that we match the demands set by others. It is a pleasure to discuss how we can further protect our security.

The cost of submarines in today’s age could be prohibitive to us in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland doing that as one country, but we could do it with other countries in NATO or with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and that alliance across Asia, which is important to have in place because China is incredibly ambitious. Dr Murrison, as your contributions in the Chamber confirm, you know better than most that China is a country with imperial ambitions and a lust for all the things in the world. It is almost like a sponge—whatever it can get, it wants, and it is trying to make that happen across the world.

Back home in Northern Ireland, we do not have our own dedicated submarine fleet, but we do have many people who serve in the UK fleet. We play a fantastic and important role in supporting the central UK fleet in its wider logistical, training and operational functions. I am particularly pleased to see the Minister in her place; I look forward to her response. We will hear shortly from the shadow Minister, who will bring to this debate knowledge from his former role.

Belfast, in particular, has a long history of shipbuilding and of supporting the Royal Navy. In my constituency of Strangford—I am going back a few years to when I was a wee boy in the ’60s and ’70s in Ballywalter, where we moved in 1959—the tradition was not necessarily the Army, but the Royal Navy. I remember that when I was a young boy, almost everybody who left Ballywalter to go into service went to the Royal Navy. That has changed greatly—fortunately or unfortunately, depending how one looks at it. Today, the tradition is the Army and, to a lesser degree, the Royal Air Force. Very rarely do we have anybody who joins the Royal Navy.

I found an exception when I went to one of my constituents’ houses on a Sunday two weeks ago. There was a wake on—we in Northern Ireland have a tradition of going to wakes when someone we know very well has passed away. The young fellow in the house was 19 years old and going into Royal Navy officer training at Dartmouth. He renewed my interest in this subject. He is a really special young boy from the village of Ballywalter who is going to be an officer in the Royal Navy. He has committed his life to service.

The Harland and Wolff shipyard can also play an important part. Lots of things have happened in the last few days in relation to Harland and Wolff; hopefully Navantia, which will take over the shipyard, will promote shipbuilding and submarine work. The shipyard was formerly key to the construction of naval vessels, and in the present day it is an important hub for maritime-related activities, alongside Belfast port.

The hon. Member for Dunfermline and Dollar is rightly a keen supporter of the submarine dismantling programme, given the benefits it could bring to his constituents. I would expect any MP to do that for their constituents, and he does it well. The Minister has made it clear that, despite the fact that we have had nuclear submarines since the ’80s, we have never dismantled one. If she does not mind my saying so, if we are going to look at this matter constructively and seriously, we in Northern Ireland wish to play a part in that work, and I believe that we could. I am not suggesting that we should take the work away from the constituency of the hon. Member for Dunfermline and Dollar; I am just saying that there is a way of bringing us all together, and I think it is important that we do that.

The UK submarine programme faces some challenges with funding, construction delays and technological advancements. Our nuclear-powered submarine fleet is heavily dependent on nuclear propulsion technology, which requires high levels of maintenance and safety oversight. It is important that we are up to speed on that, but it is also important that we look forward to the future. Our defence mechanisms are extremely important, and in continuing to modernise our fleet, we will ensure that we have one of the most capable submarine forces across the world. That is the ambition of the hon. Member for Dunfermline and Dollar, and it is a good one to have. It is an ambition that this Government should have, and it is one that I fully support.

In conclusion, there are ways and means by which every nation in this United Kingdom can play its part in the advancement of our submarine fleet. I look to the Minister for reassurance that that will be taken into consideration in discussions of our fleet, and I look forward to hearing further updates on the dismantlement programme.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

--- Later in debate ---

[Maria Eagle]

I knew I would get it wrong. My hon. Friend also mentioned the efforts of her constituents in contributing to this national endeavour.

The backlog of 23 decommissioned submarines that have yet to be dismantled and recycled, which has built up over many years—seven are stored in Rosyth and 16 in Devonport—is a longstanding and ongoing issue that needs to be resolved. The previous Government set out on a path to resolve it, and we intend to continue and make sure that that work is done.

While hon. Members should be in no doubt that our submarine capabilities are the envy of the vast majority of countries in the world, the disposal backlog is one of the challenges across the portfolio of the Submarine Delivery Agency that it identified in its most recent annual report, resulting from historic underinvestment in capability and infrastructure over many years. As a Government, we are committed to defueling, dismantling and disposal of those submarines, and to meeting our responsibilities at every stage of the life-cycle of our fleet. Defueling and disposal are complex tasks, and Ministers, our Submarine Delivery Agency, and our entire defence nuclear enterprise take their responsibilities extremely seriously.

HMS Swiftsure was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar, and workers at Rosyth yard, as he knows very well, are in the process of entirely dismantling it, which is on track to be completed by the end of 2026. That will make HMS Swiftsure the first decommissioned Royal Navy nuclear submarine to be fully dismantled, with around 90% of its structure and components being reused or recycled. This is a demonstrator programme, designed to identify methods of dealing with the backlog of decommissioned submarines swiftly and safely—and, I might say, “surely”, given the name of the submarine, but that is a very corny joke. We intend to do that in a way that provides the best value for money for the taxpayer.

The responsible and innovative approach we are taking has a strong focus on sustainability. By extracting the reactor rather than storing the whole reactor compartment, we are recycling a greater proportion of each submarine and dramatically reducing the volume of radioactive material being placed in long-term storage. We are also ensuring that steel from decommissioned hulls will be able to be reused to support the manufacture of future UK-built submarines.

Workers at the Rosyth yard have also successfully and safely completed the initial stage of the dismantling process on four decommissioned submarines—which should give my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar some reassurance about future work that is going on. That will pave the way to accelerate the programme, having learned, from HMS Swiftsure, the best way of going about it, and should sustain high-skilled jobs in Rosyth as we deal with this legacy.

In parallel, we are evaluating our long-term options for future submarine disposal capability in the UK, using the lessons being learned from HMS Swiftsure, to enable us to dispose of future classes of submarine as they leave service, rather than having to park them at Devonport again and then wonder what to do with them thereafter. The submarine disposal capability project was established in 2022, as I am sure the hon. Member for South Suffolk and you, Dr Murrison, recall, to identify an enduring disposal capability for future submarines. The project is still in its concept phase, assessing all options for a future submarine disposal capability within the UK. An initial study has shown that there were various potential sites for disposal, including Rosyth. That work was investigative.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the Minister for her very comprehensive response. I am very keen to see that we all realise the potential from the dismantling of the submarines, and I know the Minister is very keen on that, too. Is there any possibility that we in Northern Ireland could be part of that, perhaps through Harland & Wolff and others?

[Maria Eagle]

I am going to have to go back to my officials and interrogate them about what the possibilities are in Belfast. It is not a place where submarine work or nuclear work has previously been done. There will be criteria that any potential place would have to meet in order to do that, but I will certainly go back and challenge my officials about the extent to which Belfast—