Royal Navy: HMS Northumberland, Bulwark and Albion decommissioning defended by defence secretary

John Healey announced earlier today that several assets will be shelved in order to prioritise more advanced technologies. HMS Northumberland, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark are due to be decommissioned, alongside two wave-class tankers, 46 watchkeeper MK1 drones, 14 Chinook helicopters and 17 Puma aircraft.

Mr Healey said the military capabilities taken out of service will save £150m over the next two years, and up to £500m over the next five years - with funds remaining in defence. The news came as a surprise considering the ongoing Strategic Defence Review, with announcements about changing the MoD’s priorities not expected until the Spring of 2025.

The Labour MP for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough said he consulted those involved in the government’s strategic defence review before making the cuts. HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark had been “mothballed” with no likelihood of them ever returning to sea, he told the House of Commons.

In response, shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge challenged the decision and said: “Whatever the chancellor's true grapes of economics, she has certainly been able to force her priorities onto the country. Getting the MoD to scrap major capabilities before they have undertaken the much-vaunted Strategic Defence Review. He added: “They are weakening our defence capabilities and our national security. Labour have made their choices. They own the consequences.”

In response to both former Royal Navy flagships being retired, Mr Healey said: “They were mothballed. There were no plans for either of these ships to go back to sea for nearly 10 years until they were due to be taken out of service.

“These were not ready to sail, these were not ready to fight, they were capabilities that can be covered elsewhere, and this will save us – every year – money that we can redeploy within defence to upgrade our forces and our technologies for the future.” Earlier in the announcement, Mr Healey described HMS Northumberland as “a frigate with structural damage which makes her uneconomical to repair.”

The defence secretary went on to accuse the Conservatives of not having proper plans to fulfil their pre-election pledge of spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence. He said of his Tory counterpart: “He knows the truth of the black hole that his government left across the board, but he did nothing in defence to get a grip of the budgets, he did nothing to decommission out-of-date kit, and I’m taking the action now to strengthen defence for the future. These decision were overdue. The service chiefs support these changes, it means we can move more rapidly, as we must.”

Mr Healey said decisions regarding the decommissioned equipment have yet to be made. Chairman of the Defence Select Committee, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, said: “It’s right that old platforms are being retired and we’re transitioning to newer equipment, and I’m also glad to note that it has the full backing of our military chiefs.

“However, this is being implemented without the full findings of the strategic defence review being announced, and obviously there are cost implications. Will the unrequired kit be either sold to allies or be given to Ukraine?”

Mr Healey replied: “These are decisions I have taken now, as I said in my statement, that both help us to get a grip of the MoD budget now and to create greater scope to better implement the strategic defence review when it reports. These are decisions that as I have said are overdue, they are decisions that were ducked by previous ministers in the previous government.

“Further decisions about what to do with the decommissioned equipment have not yet been made, but I will make sure that when I make those decisions I will inform his committee.”