The Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, Liam Fox, came today to show his support for a city which he says is ‘a centre of excellence for the defence industry’. On a private visit to BAe systems, we were shown around the building of the new aircraft carriers which are already up to the seventh deck in their construction. It was incredible to see a huge industrial ship building project in our densely populated city alongside two nearly completed Omani ships. The order book for BAe systems is full for the next 5 years and the development of the next generation of navy ships is already in the pipeline and will be available for export too which is absolutely essential if we want to maintain our own indigenous defence industry. BAe Systems is one of the British successes in terms of exports and research and employs 1000’s of people in Portsmouth both directly and indirectly so it is essential that we support them.

Dr Fox talked about what capabilities we need on the aircraft carriers and how flexible they need to be to accommodate different types of aircraft. He also spoke positively about the future of the navy and the number of ships we need to maintain our maritime commitments. As he said, ‘Nelson would be turning in his grave’ with the reduced number of ships that we have at the moment. Dr Fox has already said that the Conservative Party are committed to three navy bases so the future of Portsmouth as the home of the Royal Navy is assured under a Conservative Government.