Labour have announced that they are scrapping two warships, one Type 23 frigate and two Wave class tankers.
Two former Royal Navy flagships, Devonport-based HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark will be decommissioned, as well as Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland.
According to The Independent, the scrapping of HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion leaves the UK without any amphibious assault ships.
Defence Secretary John Healey has blamed the need for cost-cutting action on the "dire inheritance" left by the Tories.
Plymouth Live quotes Fred Thomas, MP for Plymouth Moor View:
This is the right decision for Plymouth, and our national security. These ships had already been effectively mothballed by the last Government. It was commonly understood that they were never going to sea again.
Warfare has changed. The challenges we face are unprecedented, and new capabilities are needed to meet them. Spending millions on ships that aren’t going to sea just won’t cut it anymore. It’s great to see this Government taking action to plan, prepare, and spend to modernise our Defence.
Plymouth has a big role to play in UK defence. The Government have committed to the deep maintenance of the four new Dreadnought class submarines being carried out exclusively at Devonport, which will create thousands of new jobs in Plymouth.
I also welcome the Secretary of State’s reassurance that almost all crew have been reassigned already and that no redundancies will be made as a result of these decisions.
Former Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View, Rt Hon Johnny Mercer was not too pleased with this Labour decision, posting to X:
So thats the new hospital axed, and now this awful news. Sad days for Plymouth. You have to fight for this stuff in Government - for the people who need you and voted for you. This is not that.
https://twitter.com/JohnnyMercerUK/status/1859249553016250871
