Loss of warships branded 'huge blow' for Plymouth

The loss of three Devonport warships in a cost-saving exercise has been branded “a sad day for Plymouth” by the city’s only Tory MP. Rebecca Smith said the Labour Government’s decision to scrap amphibious assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark and the Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland will diminish the Royal Navy as a full fighting force and land a “huge blow” to the city’s prestige and economy.

The South West Devon MP said: “Our dockyard is a source of immense pride to our city. The loss of Devonport ’s largest warships is a sad day for Plymouth.

“The decision to cut HMS Albion, Bulwark and Northumberland at a time of growing global instability diminishes the Royal Navy’s status as a ‘full-spectrum force’. It also raises serious questions about the service’s recruitment.”

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Defence Secretary John Healey last week told the House of Commons that the warships, two support tankers, Army drones and helicopters would be scrapped as part of a plan to save the Ministry of Defence (MoD) £150m over the next two years. He blamed the former Tory Government for leaving Labour with the “dire inheritance” of a financial black hole.

Plymouth Labour MP Luke Pollard, under-secretary for state for the armed forces, supported the decision and said Albion and Bulwark had effectively been mothballed by the previous Tory government and would never see service again in any case. He said Labour had therefore merely made a decision the previous government had avoided.

And he stressed that HMS Northumberland was in such a poor state of repair it was not economically viable for the ship to return to sea. In March this year, Mr Pollard called for clarity over the future of Albion and Bulwark after the Tories said they would only deploy “if required”.

Six years earlier he had called on the Government to “rule out cuts” to Albion, Bulwark and the Royal Marines. Since then the Tories decided that the ships would not sail until they were decommissioned in 2033 and 2034, respectively,

In February this year, the then Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told PlymouthLive they would remain in service until at least 2032 and said: “We are not scrapping them or putting them into mothballs.”

Ms Smith today said: “Just last January, Labour’s local representatives were calling for these warships to be protected – I am genuinely surprised and disappointed by their ‘about turn’. Their loss is a huge blow to Plymouth’s prestige and local economy and further evidence that the South West is Labour’s forgotten region in the Budget.

“These cuts make me even more determined to secure a new deal from government which delivers the skills, housing and transport investment needed to deliver Devonport’s vital role in refitting submarines.”

She said the Royal Navy must maintain a broad range of naval capabilities to effectively combat the proliferation of threats to UK national security in an uncertain age. Axing the warships, she argued, diminishes the Royal Navy’s status as a ‘full-spectrum force’.

The loss of HMS Albion and Bulwark, in particular, thwarts the Royal Navy’s ability to project power from sea to land. And she said: “Underlying challenges to recruit seamen have raised uncomfortable questions for the service.”

She said Royal Navy recruitment fares worst among the three services, meeting 60% of its recruitment target in 2023/24. She said she has identified this shortfall as a contributing factor behind the cuts.

Last week Mr Pollard said the cash saved from scrapping the warships would be ploughed back into defence and he was eager for Plymouth to get a share. He stressed that the future of the city’s dockyard and defence industry was bright, with new amphibious Multi-role support ships (MRSS), Devonport-based Type 26 frigates and enough submarine work to keep the dockyard busy for the next 70 years.

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