Defence Readiness

Richard Baker Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)]

Earlier this month I joined the workers, apprentices and management at the Methil yard in my constituency, where they christened the Seahorse barge. At 85 metres long, 25 metres wide, weighing approximately 1,400 tonnes, Seahorse is an impressive achievement and will play a critical role in enabling the construction of the Royal Navy’s three fleet solid support ships.

The sun was shining on Methil that day, the Forth was sparkling, and it was fantastic to join the workers, who are rightly proud of delivering this project on time and on budget. It was particularly good to hear from the apprentices at the yard about the skills and experience they had gained from being involved and about their hopes for the future. It was a day of pride and joy for the workers—and what a contrast it was to my first visit at only a few days after I was elected to this place. Then, Harland & Wolff had fallen into administration, and the future of the yard and its skilled workforce was under very real threat, but it was Labour Ministers who stepped in and worked with Navantia UK to save Methil and three other yards across the United Kingdom.

Methil has reaped the rewards. Where there was once a bleak future, now there is investment and opportunity in a community where too many people and too many families are still struggling. Since acquiring Methil, Navantia has grown the workforce from 180 to 260, and it is now on a recruitment drive to fill a further 110 roles. That includes recruiting 50 more apprentices to join the existing 54 apprentices at the yard—brilliant opportunities for young people from the local area for the future.

Navantia UK has invested £27 million in upgrading the yard and its facilities. That investment has turned around the fortunes of the yard, which has won a further two contracts for marine infrastructure that the workforce will deliver in the coming months. The transformation means that the yard is ready to play a key role in the delivery of future defence contracts. Methil is a living example of what can be achieved through defence investment as an engine for growth. Of course, growth and growing our economy is at the heart of the King’s Speech.

Yesterday, I was delighted to hear my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary set out the measure of that ambition in his speech to the Good Growth Foundation. He made it clear that our increased defence spending will bring investment into the British defence sector. Scotland shows the difference that that can make with a £10 billion deal with Norway for frigates to be built on the Clyde, supporting 2,000 jobs until the end of the next decade and a further 2,000 jobs in the supply chain. How often we have talked about nostalgia for the great days of the Clyde and fearing for its future? The Government are delivering contracts that make the future bright. For Fife, with the yard at Methil and the yard at Rosyth, of which my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) is a doughty champion, as Ministers know, the defence investment plan will be vital for the future of our local area and our defence businesses.

I am as impatient as anybody for the plan’s publication, but I understand how important it is to get it right and ensure that it is ready with the right strategy when it is published. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is aware of my view that a key part of getting that plan right is securing work for Methil and for Belfast through Programme Euston, to deliver new dry docks for Faslane. My experience of working with the workforce, the management and the unions at Methil is that the case for investment in British yards, in British businesses and in our workers is not only about the benefits it brings to our economies and our communities; it is because the skills, the capabilities and the experience in our defence industry is second to none across the world. That is why taking forward this strategy is right for our economy, for our armed forces and, at a time when we face so much global uncertainty, for our national security. I hope that it is one that the Government will continue to pursue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Baker Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

The decision to accept the fresh US request to use our bases in order to strike Iran’s missile location was clearly set out at the time. I welcome—the House welcomes—her visit to Ukraine. In our support of Ukraine, it is enormously encouraging that Members from both sides of the House are regularly in Ukraine to reinforce this country’s continued support for its fight against Putin.

[Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)]

Following last week’s welcome announcement of defence investment in Scotland, will the Minister provide an update on the plan to take forward Programme Euston at Faslane? Does he agree that the skilled workforce at the Methil yard in my constituency, which was saved by this Government, will provide excellent capacity to deliver that vital contract?

[Luke Pollard]

I thank my hon. Friend for his continued advocacy. I have met him—and will no doubt meet him again very soon—to discuss this. We will continue to invest in shipbuilding infrastructure across the UK. As we approach decisions on Programme Euston, we will be sure to keep the House informed.

Defence Industrial Strategy

Richard Baker Excerpts

Monday 8th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Jackal 3 is made in Devonport, in the constituency that I represent. It is a good platform. We will be making further announcements about orders across a whole range of land vehicles, which companies across the UK will be able to bid into. The work on the Jackal 3 continues, with the long wheelbase variants being produced at the moment.

[Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)]

Can the Minister assure me that, along with the huge defence contracts that this Government have already secured for shipyards in Scotland, this strategy will also offer great opportunities for fabrication yards, including at Methil in my constituency? It was saved from closure by Labour Ministers, and its brilliant workforce are already delivering a new £8 million Government contract under its new owners, Navantia UK.

[Luke Pollard]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that example. Our £8 million investment will create the facility for the build of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s new fleet solid support ships. That is an important part of keeping our Royal Navy supplied well into the future. I am grateful that he spoke about manufacturing, because there are huge opportunities in this strategy for businesses like the ones he mentioned.

Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Baker Excerpts

Monday 19th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Only if there is the opportunity, I might add.

[Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)]

T7. Does the Minister agree that shipyards—such as Methil in my constituency, which has been saved by this Government—have fantastic opportunities to benefit from increased defence spending in the UK, and from initiatives such as Programme Euston? Will she continue to do all she can to identify opportunities for Scottish yards, including Methil?

[The Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry (Maria Eagle)]

I will certainly do that. Programme Euston is a £2 billion investment aiming to deliver resilient out-of-water engineering capability at His Majesty’s naval base Clyde by the early 2030s. Market engagement is under way, but it is too early for me to let my hon. Friend know of any kind of outcome. However, I recognise the skills and experience at Methil, and I welcome the certainty that Navantia UK’s purchase of Harland and Wolff has brought to that facility. I look forward to seeing any bids that come in.

Royal British Legion

Richard Baker Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I, too, begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) on securing this important debate. Representing a Scottish constituency, I will focus my remarks on the work of Poppyscotland, which is vital for 4,000 veterans living in Glenrothes and Mid Fife. The sizeable veterans community in Fife is testament to the strong and proud connections that the kingdom has to the famous Black Watch regiment. Fife is home to nearly 10% of Scotland’s 175,000-strong veterans population. We know how many veterans there are in Scotland and the distinct needs of that group in our society thanks to Poppyscotland and its successful Count Them In campaign ahead of the Scottish census in 2022. That is just one example of Poppyscotland’s effective advocacy and support for the veterans community.

I was privileged to work alongside colleagues in Poppyscotland when I worked for the charity Sight Scotland Veterans, which supports veterans who are blind and partially sighted. From that experience, I learned just how invaluable the work of Poppyscotland is for our veterans. It ranges from advice services, support for veterans facing financial difficulties and advice and aids for those with mobility problems, to housing and mental health support. Poppyscotland also led the Unforgotten Forces consortium in Scotland. That brought together veterans charities, which were successfully collaborating to tackle the loneliness and isolation too often experienced by our veterans.

Every day, the Royal British Legion, Poppyscotland and so many other veterans charities throughout the United Kingdom provide fantastic support to our veterans community, but they have rightly challenged us as a country to do better by our responsibility to our armed forces and veterans communities. Therefore I very much support the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill. It has been an important and successful role in Scotland, and I think there is much to learn from the work of the commissioner there, but we can go further.

I agree very much with what the Royal British Legion has said about ensuring that the armed forces covenant is a duty not just for local authorities, but for central Government and for the devolved Administrations. Also, we could do more to provide guidance for local authorities to ensure that they know what in practice it looks like to work alongside our veterans charities to ensure that our veterans are properly supported and fully included in our communities, and that we as a nation live up to our duties and our role to ensure that we meet our responsibilities as a nation to our armed forces personnel and to our veterans.

Remembrance and Veterans

Richard Baker Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State to his place, and I am delighted that a fellow Scot has taken the role of Minister for Veterans and People. Scottish communities have played a vital role in the history of our military, and in my constituency more than 4,000 people have served in our armed forces.

The ceremonies of remembrance that we take part in are important for us all, but for thousands of people in my constituency and their families, they speak to their personal experience of service. One of the greatest privileges that I have had in my career was to work for a veterans charity, Sight Scotland Veterans. Among the veterans we supported, too many had experienced isolation and loneliness. One of the veterans I worked with was William Montgomerie, known to everyone as Monty, who had served in Germany, Cyprus and Northern Ireland before leaving the Army in 1977. While serving in the Territorial Army, Monty suffered a head injury that meant that he could not work. That in turn affected his mental health. He said:

“I had gone from working and having the camaraderie and companionship of the Territorial Army to being on my own…The reality is that you might only speak to your Alexa device for days at a time—wishing her a Merry Christmas and no-one else. It can make you feel suicidal.”

Monty is now an eloquent and effective campaigner on the need to provide better support for our veterans. That support is the debt that we owe them as a society, but as we have heard throughout this evening’s debate, too often we fall short. That is why this Government’s commitment to putting the armed forces covenant fully into law, and to creating an armed forces commissioner, are so important. In Scotland, the role of the Scottish Veterans Commissioner has been vital to the assessment of progress in Scotland on securing the aims of the covenant. In her most recent report as commissioner, Susie Hamilton found progress in a number of areas, but also noted:

“Disappointingly, progress towards the delivery of both the Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Pathway and the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Pathway remains notably slow”.

I hope that the Scottish Government will take careful note of those points.

Too many veterans still face poor mental health, and do not have the housing support that they need. That is why the Prime Minister’s commitment that we will repay all those who served us and house all veterans who are in housing need is so important. Our armed forces champion in Fife, Councillor Derek Noble, served in the 105th Regiment Royal Artillery himself. The aims of the covenant are being taken forward through the council, and we are proud that it has achieved the covenant gold standard.

Our veterans have given so much for their country. We must not only mark that with gratitude and respect on Remembrance Day, but ensure that our nation meets all its responsibilities to all our veterans.