{"id":620176,"date":"2026-06-04T05:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T05:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/620176\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T05:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T05:00:12","slug":"aukus-barrow-and-the-positive-domestic-story-it-can-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/620176\/","title":{"rendered":"AUKUS, Barrow and the ‘positive domestic story’ it can tell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Michelle Scrogham, Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, has written an article in Parliament\u2019s magazine The House<\/a> about the AUKUS partnership.\n<\/p>\n

\n AUKUS will see Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines from the UK and US, and be the catalyst for closer co-operation between the three nations on new defence technologies.\n<\/p>\n

\n More here: What is AUKUS \u2014 and why does it matter for Barrow?<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n AUKUS is a security alliance between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom (Image: Industry handout)\n<\/p>\n

\n Mrs Scrogham is a member of the House of Commons Defence Committee and chair of the AUKUS All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).\n<\/p>\n

\n In her article, which was published late last month, the Labour MP argued that not only does AUKUS give the UK the opportunity to bolster its standing in geopolitical and defence terms, but the partnership also has \u2018a positive domestic story\u2019 to be told too.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mrs Scrogham wrote: \u201cAUKUS is not merely a foreign policy pact; it is a significant blueprint for British industrial expansion and economic growth.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n She also described the security alliance\u2019s potential \u2018transformative power\u2019 to shift the dial in relation to the state of Barrow.\n<\/p>\n

\n The MP touched on the new \u00a31 billion investment price tag for Barrow that Lord Simon Case, the former cabinet secretary and now chair of Team Barrow\u2019s delivery board, talked about in the recent Defence Committee Report into AUKUS.\n<\/p>\n

\n FAQ: BAE Systems and the submarines being built in Barrow<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Michelle Scrogham in the action in the House of Commons (Image: NQ Archive)\n<\/p>\n

\n The large figure now being asked for by Lord Case is a considerable sum compared to the \u00a3200 million over a 10-year period that the government had already committed to Barrow.\n<\/p>\n

\n However, the MP stated in her article that the extra funds could lead to a \u2018rapid overhaul of local infrastructure<\/a>\u2019 in the town. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is not just about building submarines; it is about permanently rebuilding a community,\u201d Mrs Scrogham said.\n<\/p>\n

\n The MP called on \u2018agile tech firms\u2019 involved in projects like AUKUS to incorporate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into plans.\n<\/p>\n

\n This, she said, would turn the tech firms into \u2018industrial heavyweights\u2019.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mrs Scrogham said the establishment must do more to \u2018ensure it [AUKUS] enjoys unshakeable public support.\u2019\n<\/p>\n

\n Barrow is at the heart of AUKUS (Image: BAE Systems)\n<\/p>\n

\n She said: \u201cIn recent years, there have been repeated calls for a more open and honest conversation with the public on defence and security issues. This is where parliamentarians can \u2013 and must \u2013 do more.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAs part of a wider conversation about the role of defence in society, AUKUS provides a strong opportunity to show the real, practical benefits that a successful defence industry can bring to local economies across the UK.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Mrs Scrogham has invited MPs to help deliver this message of community renewal through defence spending to their constituents, to attempt to garner further support for investments into projects like AUKUS.\n<\/p>\n

\n She also called on the Ministry of Defence to be \u2018more open\u2019 with politicians, the media and the public, to effectively communicate these claimed benefits of defence spending.\n<\/p>\n

\n The jobs on offer at BAE System Barrow and how to apply<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Government: Barrow BAE workers will ‘inevitably’ leave for Australia<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n A guide to BAE Systems Barrow salaries<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michelle Scrogham, Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, has written an article in Parliament\u2019s magazine The House about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-620176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}