Defence Industrial Strategy 2025: Economic Growth and Job Creation

Debate between Lord Rogan and Lord Coaker

Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

We will ensure that we deliver the frigate programme as announced. We are delighted with the frigate deal that has come from Norway, and we are hoping to bring forward other significant investments. The noble Earl, with his Scottish roots, will know how important this investment is to Scotland. We will continue to drive that investment forward. We will make sure that we protect our own frigate programme as far as we can, but exports are an important part of what we do as well.

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords, Northern Ireland is rightly designated as one of the five key UK regions that are pivotal to the success of this strategy, thanks to the Province’s expertise in cyber security, shipbuilding and missile manufacturing. Can the Minister update the House on precisely what progress His Majesty’s Government have made in delivering this strategy in the six months since it was published and what benefits it has brought to the people of Northern Ireland?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

As the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, said, there have been meetings in Northern Ireland to drive the strategy forward. We are hoping to make an announcement about the growth deal for Northern Ireland to build on the consultations that have taken place. Northern Ireland is home to Thales and a diverse range of defence and dual-use industries. The country is recognised as a leading cyber security hub, boosted by the Queen’s University Belfast Centre for Secure Information Technologies and Momentum One Zero. It is also a critical home to Thales and Harland & Wolff, companies that are critical to our support for Ukraine and our maritime strength. That is a good news story for Northern Ireland and for the whole of the UK.

Ministry of Defence Procurement: UK-manufactured Products

Debate between Lord Rogan and Lord Coaker

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

My noble friend makes a really good point, and of course he is right to say that. The total number of direct and indirect jobs supported through MoD expenditure with UK industry a couple of years ago was 272,000, which was up from 244,000 the year before—so defence is growing. Is it growing fast enough? We would all like to see it growing more quickly. But there is no doubt that the development of a UK defence industry is crucial to our defence and the defence of our allies.

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords—

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[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

Noble Lords will recall the Prime Minister’s announcement earlier this year of £1.6 billion in contracts for Thales in Belfast to supply air defence missiles for Ukraine, creating 200 jobs in Northern Ireland. The deal also included the prospect of a further £500 million of additional work to be added in collaboration with the Ukrainian industry partner. Can the Minister provide the House with an update on progress, including how many new jobs have been delivered and whether the extra £200 million of work for Thales in Northern Ireland has been secured?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

One of the key points that the Government have pursued is to ensure that the increase in defence expenditure is felt across the nations and regions. Northern Ireland has secured significant sums of money: Thales, as the noble Lord mentioned, as well as other manufacturers, including small and medium-sized businesses. It is a massive success story for Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland plays a huge role in the defence and security of our nation. There are huge numbers of jobs being created there, and there is a huge amount of investment taking place as well.

Defence Spending: Scotland

Debate between Lord Rogan and Lord Coaker

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I will take on board any ideas about how we improve recruitment, and that is one. The broader point that the noble Lord makes about defence investment is very important. Of course, we will continue to invest in the various sites I have mentioned. The noble Lord made a point about the involvement of the whole of business and the community in the new warfare and the new battleground of the future, so of course it will involve the oil industry and the business sectors because they are defending critical national infrastructure—the energy sources for our country. All those things become crucial not only in Scotland but across the whole of the UK. To deliver that, we need a whole society, whole community, whole business effort, which is what the new defence industrial strategy that we will be publishing soon will take on board.

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords, defence spending in Northern Ireland lagged far behind the UK average for many years. In the new era of increased national defence spending, what does the Minister believe he can do, alongside colleagues from other government departments, to boost Northern Ireland’s contribution to the defence sector and in so doing potentially create many thousands of much-needed highly skilled jobs?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

Northern Ireland, as with the whole of the UK, including Scotland, will benefit from the increases in defence spending. Just one example of that is the huge new contract given to Thales in Belfast, which will generate a huge number of jobs. When you add not only direct employment at Thales but also the small and medium-sized businesses that will benefit from that, Northern Ireland will benefit from that increase in defence spending as well as other parts of the United Kingdom.

Undersea Internet Cables

Debate between Lord Rogan and Lord Coaker

Thursday 16th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords, how are we dealing with the threat to transatlantic undersea cables from hostile actors? Around 75% of the cables in the northern hemisphere pass through or near Irish sea waters. However, in a recent response to me on the Floor of this House, the noble Lord, Lord Vallance, seemed to suggest that the task of protecting these cables is carried out by a single ship which, with respect, does not sound remotely credible. As an esteemed Defence Minister, can the noble Lord advise me of what arrangements are actually in place to safeguard these cables serving the British Isles and how much of the bill is being paid by the Irish Government?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I will leave what the Irish Government pay for to the Irish Government. Regarding the protection of critical underwater infrastructure, the UK has a large number of assets. The noble Lord of course points to the maritime assets that we make available, some of which we cannot discuss openly, but we also have surveillance aircraft and other means of protection. We will see in the defence review further suggestions as to what we might do in that respect. Let us make no mistake about it: one of the key functions of the Government is to protect the underwater infrastructure on which our livelihoods and prosperity depend. We will do that. It is not only about dealing with things when they happen but about deterring people from doing them in the first place. The Government will take the action necessary to achieve that.