{"id":406758,"date":"2025-09-08T02:48:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T02:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/406758\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T02:48:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T02:48:18","slug":"alexander-hails-defence-dividend-for-scotland-from-new-uk-government-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/406758\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander hails \u2018defence dividend\u2019 for Scotland from new UK Government strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A \u201cdefence dividend\u201d from a UK Government<\/a> strategy will provide a \u201creal boost\u201d to the economy north of the border, the new Scottish<\/a> Secretary has insisted.<\/p>\n

Douglas Alexander<\/a> welcomed the new Defence Industrial Strategy,\u00a0which is being backed with \u00a3250 million of\u00a0UK-wide investment.<\/p>\n

That cash will go on UK Defence Growth Deals \u2013 which Defence Secretary John Healey<\/a> said would build on the strengths regions already have \u2013 with Scotland expected to share in the cash.<\/p>\n

The new Defence Industrial Strategy comes in the wake of a \u00a310 billion deal which will see warships for the Norwegian navy built in Glasgow.<\/p>\n

Ministry of Defence spending is already said to support more than 11,000 jobs in Scotland, and\u00a0the UK Government<\/a> hopes its \u201cpioneering scheme\u201d will help to \u201cunleash potential\u201d from businesses and research institutions in Scotland.<\/p>\n

With a focus on areas such as the space and maritime sectors, it could lead to \u201ccutting edge\u201d research and development work taking place \u2013 and also create new jobs north of the border.<\/p>\n

Mr Healey insisted that the new strategy will\u00a0make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a defence company while putting Britain \u201cat the leading edge of innovation\u201d.<\/p>\n

And new Scottish Secretary Mr Alexander said: \u201cThe UK Government\u2019s Defence Industrial Strategy will mean a real boost for Scotland\u2019s economy and create highly skilled jobs for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding that \u201cthis is the defence dividend\u201d, Mr Alexander said: \u201cJust last week we saw a \u00a310 billion shipbuilding contract come to Clydeside \u2013 that is a fantastic example of what can be achieved with a government committed to ensuring Scotland benefits from the global rise in defence spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cScotland\u2019s defence sector is second to none, and our Defence Industrial Strategy will help ensure it has a thriving future, as part of our Plan for Change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Healey meanwhile said:\u00a0\u201cThe Defence Industrial Strategy will make defence an engine for growth in Scotland, backing jobs, industry and innovators.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefence Growth Deals offer a new partnership with UK defence to build on industrial and innovation strengths that regions already hold. Together we aim to drive an increase in defence skills and jobs across Scotland. \u201d<\/p>\n

Chancellor Rachel Reeves added: \u201cThrough Defence Growth Deals we will unleash the power of local economies while securing our country \u2013 building an economy that works for working people, in every part of this country, just as our Plan for Change promised.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-406758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-scotland","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115166399887427530","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}