Mr Luke Charters

I praise the last Government for their role in setting up the national security strategic investment fund as part of the British Business Bank. One of the problems with it is that it allows lending only to dual-use parts of the defence supply chain. That is an interesting point for the Government to look at. We must not think about these institutions in silos; we have to look at the BBB, the national wealth fund and UK Defence Innovation as a collective to find out how they can best support the sector. Defence has always operated on two fronts: economic and military. This week, we reflect on VE Day 80 years ago. During world war two, factories in Britain were transformed overnight to churn out Spitfires, tanks and munitions, while rationing and war bonds mobilised a home front economy to sustain the fight. Let me be clear: Britain faces strategic competition not just on the battlefield but in our factories, our budgets and our very financial systems. This is not a challenge on the horizon; it is one that is already confronting us, economically, industrially and financially. Turbocharging financial support for our defence industrial base will empower companies of every size and truly build a powerful economic and industrial deterrent. It is time to remove the barriers and act faster, further and more decisively in supporting British defence.