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Burnham to unveil £8.4bn nuclear submarine investment in major boost for UK defence (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by Armand1@lemmy.world to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

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Guys, we really need to save on welfare costs. That's why we made a controversial cut of £5b to disability support.

Meanwhile, we think the army needs more money. £3b last year, and £8.4b here. It's really worth it, I promise.

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[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's Trident.

Andy Burnham is expected to unveil on Thursday an £8.4bn investment for the UK's next generation of nuclear submarines.

Aimed at preparing Dreadnought-class boats for service by the 2030s, the nuclear-armed vessels are set to replace the current Vanguard-class and will be equipped to launch Trident 2 D5 ballistic missiles

This is on top of £16B since the 2020 defence spending report, and £30-40B before that (Wikipedia is a bit fuzzy on some of it). This is sunk-cost spending (no pun intended). There's no other option except cancel the program.

...and none of it covers the missiles, which isn't an independent system.

We need to have much better government procurement oversight. Contract values need to be understood properly upfront. Bids are intentionally low, with companies knowing that once they're "in" costs can go up and they'll get paid. It's a well understood strategy, but it continually happens.

[–] Flamekebab@piefed.social 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I really hate the whole "it's gone over budget" thing. If the budget doesn't mean anything then why even have it?

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago

At least this is money primarily going to UK workers.

Trident pisses me off because it buys missile we're perfectly capable of designing and making ourselves. Relying on another nation for last resort national defence is bonkers if you have the choice.