ON December 1 I secured a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament on the issue of defence procurement and supply chains.

This has profound implications for Britain’s manufacturing industries, the wider supply chains and the communities within the “left behind” towns that are home to Ministry of Defence suppliers.

We are in the worst economic crisis in living memory. Across the country, unemployment is soaring and could hit over three million by the spring of 2021.

British industry has been especially badly hit by Covid-19 and the resulting lockdown with “left-behind” towns in the north and Midlands bearing the brunt. Thousands of workers at companies like Bentley, Airbus and Safran Nacelles now find their jobs under threat.

The scale of this crisis is starkly illustrated by the situation at Rolls Royce Barnoldswick, where operations have been offshored and striking workers in Unite the Union have been locked out of the plant just before Christmas. Wider supply chains have been devastated as well, with 5,000 jobs lost in aerospace alone.

And as the Institute for Public Policy Research has demonstrated, redundancies in this sector have a disproportionate impact on local economies — compounding already high levels of deprivation and joblessness found in towns like my constituency of Birkenhead.

My argument is simple: defence procurement has a vital role to play in helping British industry to survive this current crisis. The need for high-tech, cutting-edge defence projects remains as pressing as ever. And British suppliers are well placed to meet this demand.

When the government talks about levelling-up Britain and “building back better” it needs to match words with deeds. The Chancellor is promising billions for defence. It is imperative that this additional funding goes to projects that sustain high-skilled employment and provide quality training opportunities to young people across this country.

Labour has called for a new defence industrial strategy that expands the definition of “good value” to include support for British manufacturers, small to medium enterprises and the highly skilled jobs they create.

Let’s consider what this would mean for the shipbuilding industry. British shipbuilding and ship repair is a £2 billion industry that directly employs over 32,000 people in Britain and supports 20,000 jobs in the wider supply chain.

Shipbuilding also accounts for 60 per cent of the north-west’s defence spending. And, of course, my constituency is home to the historic Cammell Laird shipyards.

Despite facing significant challenges in recent decades, Cammell Laird continues to provide high-skilled jobs and meaningful training opportunities to seven hundred people in Birkenhead.

And it’s staying ahead of the curve. Just last month, it launched the RSS Sir David Attenborough — perhaps the most technologically sophisticated vessel produced in this country in the last three decades.

Cammell Laird continues to provide training opportunities to young people in my constituency. Over 300 young people have been offered apprenticeships over the last decade, with 51 starting this year.

Now, Cammell Laird stands to benefit from the construction of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s new Fleet Solid Support Ships.

Along with Babcock International, Rolls Royce and BAE systems, Cammell Laird is part of a “Team UK” consortium that was shortlisted for the contract before competition was suspended last November. Winning the contract would create or secure at least 6,500 jobs across the country, including hundreds at Cammell Laird.

The Secretary of State for Defence’s announcement that these vessels will be classified as warships, guaranteeing that they will be built in Britain, was welcome, but there are now concerns that the MoD could accept bids from consortiums including and even led by firms based overseas.

Building these ships in Britain won’t just benefit the hundreds of workers who will be guaranteed gainful employment for another decade. Or the young people whose horizons will be expanded through the provision of quality apprenticeships.

It will also mean more work for the countless suppliers who provide the shipyards with parts and logistical support.

It will mean more money spent in our town’s shops, restaurants and hospitality venues which have been so devastated by the national lockdowns.

And it will mean more revenue for our local council, who are working tirelessly to support some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country. In short, it will mean hope for the town of Birkenhead.

The Fleet Solid Support Ships aren’t the only defence projects that have a role to play in kickstarting the economy. There are many others perched on the slipway and ready to launch.

This is not a plea for Little England style nationalism — it is about providing a practical and effective way of rebuilding British industry so that it can address the needs of the people of this country in the following decades of neglect and decline that started with Thatcher.

By ensuring that these projects are built in Britain, the government has the opportunity to prove it means what it says about levelling up and building back better. It’s in their gift to provide towns like Birkenhead, Barnoldswick and Barrow-in-Furness the jobs and training opportunities they deserve.

The Tories are not renowned for showering the working class with gifts. But by holding them to account in Westminster and by supporting action by the unions such as at Barnoldswick outside Parliament, this is an issue we can force their hand on and take the fight for jobs forward.

Mick Whitley is Labour MP for Birkenhead.