Fred Thomas MP

The week before last in Parliament saw the official launched of Team Plymouth – the city’s ambitious new partnership for defence-driven growth.

The room was full of people who care deeply about Plymouth: leaders from industry, our universities and colleges, defence, local government, and national government. Many of them have been a part of this journey since day one, and seeing everyone come together for the launch was inspiring.

We were joined by Communities Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh and Defence Minister Lord Coaker, who will share responsibility for driving Team Plymouth forward. That matters. It sends a signal that this is a truly cross-departmental mission – not something sitting in a single silo, but a partnership that reaches across Whitehall and across our whole city.

Because Team Plymouth is not just about defence. It’s about housing, education, transport, skills and opportunity. It’s about using long-term defence investment as the anchor for something much bigger: a thriving, inclusive Plymouth with opportunities for everyone.

The long-term investment is real. HMNB Devonport and the Devonport Royal Dockyard have guaranteed programmes of work stretching to 2070. The MOD have confirmed 4.4 billion of investment over the next 10 years. This is one of the strongest, most secure economic foundations to build on in the country.

The scale of what’s coming to Plymouth is enormous. Babcock alone will need 5,500 new employees over the next ten years just to sustain the existing workforce. Projections show a requirement of 25,000 more jobs across the city than people of working age within the next 10 years. Plymouth City Council and Homes England have committed to building 10,000 new homes in the city centre.

The opportunity here is immense, but so too are the risks. Risks to local growth if we can’t supply the workforce. Risks to our economic diversity if too much depends on a handful of major employers. Risks to social cohesion if people feel shut out of the benefits. And risks to our public services, housing, and infrastructure if we don’t plan ahead with care.

In short: we’ve got to get this right. Team Plymouth exists because none of these challenges can be met in isolation. We need to grow our skills pipeline, unlock new homes, strengthen our transport links, raise educational attainment and make sure that opportunity is genuinely shared. If we can manage that, the rewards will be felt across every community in our city for decades to come.

And of course, what is true for Plymouth, as home to an historic naval dockyard, is true for every other coast & country constituency that hosts part of the nation’s defence establishment, be that an airfield, other ports or the many regimental bases.  Investing in our national defence is another way of supporting these communities of coast, and of country; showing these communities that a vote for Labour is a vote for their future.