Glasgow & Submarine Welding

Glasgow will play a central role in building a new generation of attack

submarines after UK ministers stepped in to save a facility at risk of
collapse due to an SNP “student politics” ban on munitions funding.
John Healey, the defence secretary, is expected to confirm in his speech to
Labour conference on Monday that plans for a state-of-the-art welding
centre, which the SNP quango Scottish Enterprise refused to support due to
its potential military uses, will go ahead after he agreed to provide the
funding instead. The Times revealed in May that ambitious plans for the new
centre, backed by Strathclyde University and a £11 million investment from
Rolls-Royce, were days from collapse after the agency made clear it would
not provide an anticipated £2.5 million in funding as it deemed submarines
a “weapon”. The revelation led to months of criticism that an SNP ban
on taxpayer support for munitions projects meant Scotland was at risk of
missing out on a boom in defence funding, while undermining the defence of
Britain and its allies, such as Ukraine.

Times 29th Sept 2025

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/labour-to-make-glasgow-a-shipbuilding-superpower-after-snp-ban-zmj03h88k

Herald 29th Sept 2025

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25500835.uk-fund-11m-clyde-welding-centre-snp-snub/