Healey to Pledge 'New Age of Industrialisation' in Labour Conference Speech
Chancellor John Healey will use his Labour conference address to promise a new era of industrialisation, with expanded support for shipbuilding and new facilities to maintain nuclear submarines on the Clyde.
Chancellor John Healey will promise a «new age of industrialisation» in his speech to the Labour conference, placing industrial renewal and defence investment at the centre of the government's economic message. The address is expected to confirm expanded support for the domestic shipbuilding sector, including major investment in the Royal Navy's Scottish submarine facility.
Healey is set to announce that three new floating docks will go ahead on the Clyde to maintain nuclear submarines. The move forms part of a broader pitch to voters and party members that Britain's industrial past can be remade for the modern economy, with defence manufacturing and shipbuilding positioned as drivers of growth and national security.
In remarks prepared for the conference, Healey drew a direct line between his own political roots and the government's industrial strategy. «My politics were shaped by the industrial heartlands of South Yorkshire,» he said. «Today, on the site of the Orgreave pit, is Rotherham's Advanced Manufacturing Park. Our coal mines are not coming back. But this is how Britain's industrial past is being remade now for the modern world. This is the new age of industrialisation. A new confidence in Britain.»
The speech comes amid scrutiny of the government's defence spending commitments. Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith accused Healey of offering «reheated announcements» without clarity on funding. He pointed to the earlier defence investment plan, which he said still contains a £4.7bn black hole, and noted that Healey had previously resigned over Labour's failure to fund defence. Griffith argued that Healey, now as chancellor, still will not fund the 3% target he walked out over.
The Chancellor's address is also expected to cool nerves over potential Budget tax rises, following concerns that lower immigration has reduced the government's fiscal headroom by around £7bn. The conference speech is being watched for signals on how the government intends to balance industrial investment, defence commitments and broader economic stability.
Shipbuilding support is likely to be a central plank of the announcement, with the Royal Navy's Scottish submarine facility at Faslane set to benefit from the expanded investment. The floating docks on the Clyde are intended to sustain the maintenance of nuclear submarines, reinforcing the government's defence industrial base in Scotland.
The conference address represents an attempt by the Chancellor to frame industrial policy as both an economic and strategic priority. By linking shipbuilding, defence and manufacturing to regional renewal, Healey is seeking to present the government's plans as a coherent programme for growth and security, while managing internal party and public concerns about spending and taxation.
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