Labour: Extend life of N-subs

THE Government could save more than £18 billion by extending the life of the Vanguard submarines, claims Councillor Mark Lowry.

The new Government has said it wants a new nuclear deterrent to replace the Vanguard submarine-based Trident system.

However, Mr Lowry, a dockyard project manager, said: “Vanguard [boats] are in good condition and their lives could be extended by 15 years by major reactor component replacement, or 30 years by fitting new reactors and propulsion systems.

“That would employ thousands of people in Plymouth for the next 10 years and would enable the MoD to save billions of pounds.”

Refitting the four Vanguard submarines would cost £1.4 billion, Mr Lowry said. The cost of a full replacement programme would be £20 billion.

He said the present refuelling work on nuclear submarines was reaching the end of the road.

The planned Astute class of submarines would not require refuelling in their scheduled lifetime, and only one Vanguard-class submarine, HMS Vigilant, still required refuelling. That would leave Devonport as the base for dismantling nuclear submarines. “We as a party [Labour] are in agreement with that,” he said.

Alison Seabeck, the Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View, said: “With Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, and George Osborne, the Chancellor, at loggerheads over Trident, Plymouth stands to do quite well.”