The shortage of nuclear submarine engineers in the UK is a “cause of serious concern,” according to MPs.
The warning, from a Commons defence select committee, came after prime minister Tony Blair outlined proposals to spend up to £20bn on a new generation of submarines to deliver Trident missiles.
The committee said replacing the present Vanguard submarine would require a “uniquely skilled and specialist workforce”.
Conservative MP James Arbuthnot, the committee’s chairman, said: “If we are to build a new generation of Trident submarines here in the UK, as the government’s White Paper suggests, we will have to work to sustain our manufacturing and skills base.”
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Arbuthnot said the current workforce had “truly world-class” skills.
The Ministry of Defence said the committee’s report would “provide a useful contribution to the forthcoming debate and vote in the House of Commons”.
