The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (The ) (Con):...AUKUS partners
BAE, Babcock and Rolls-Royce have
already been awarded contracts worth £4 billion to procure
long-lead components for the submarines. This will support
thousands of highly skilled jobs in the UK, particularly in
Barrow, where the UK’s submarines will be constructed, and at
the Rolls-Royce
Raynesway site in Derby, which will double in size to manufacture
all the reactors for the UK and Australian subs, creating around
1,100 new jobs. We have also accelerated nuclear co-operation and
training between AUKUS partners, offering enhanced opportunities
for Australian sailors to train in the UK and the US, including
on non-nuclear submarines, and we have committed to more planned
visits to the US and nuclear-powered submarines to Australia...
(CB): I thank the Minister
for giving way. He just mentioned the AUKUS advanced capabilities
industry forum and collaboration with trade and industry. That is
absolutely spot on, but no one mentions working with
universities. Is there not huge potential for the AUKUS
programme, in the USA, Australia and here in the UK, to work with
our world-class universities to turbocharge this programme? I am
chancellor of the University of Birmingham, which last week won a
Queen’s Anniversary Prize at Buckingham Palace for its work with
Rolls-Royce on
aero-engines. It is so powerful. Should we not be promoting this
more?
The (Con): I could not agree
more. Rolls-Royce
is in the process of doubling its graduate intake between 2022
and 2025, and taking on an enormous number of apprentices over
the next 10 years to ensure that we build up this capability of
proper, genuine, well-paid and highly skilled jobs for
life—exactly the sort of thing that the noble Lord refers to...
...Can we really build submarines faster than ever before? We
have a commitment from our industrial partners and confidence in
that. Rolls-Royce
is producing the reactors and we have invested billions of pounds
in both Barrow and Derby. As I said, we have committed to more
than 1,000 new jobs already...
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