'Old Type 23s need replacing': Tory urges Labour to keep Royal Navy Type 26 order amid 'armchair general' jab
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Concerns have been raised on whether a recent agreement with Norway will mean less new ships for the Royal Navy
A fearful shadow defence secretary is concerned about the current state of the Royal Navy - while being branded as an “armchair general” by his political opponent.
James Cartlidge MP, Conservative, believes the current Type 23 frigates need to be replaced as soon as possible with modern alternatives. Eight advanced Type 26 submarine-hunting warships and five Type 31 frigates are being built in Scotland.
The hope is they’ll bolster an aging fleet, but Mr Cartlidge is believes not all of the orders will be fulfilled after two of the Type 26 build slots were passed on to Norway. During a visit to Royal Clarence Yard in Gosport, he told The News: “I support the export to Norway, but it mustn't be at the expense of our ships.
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“There should be two for Norway in addition to our eight. Whatever we think about what went on in the past, the critical issue is now. Let’s be honest, we don’t have enough surface vessels. The Type 23s are old and need replacing, and we can debate about how quickly we should have ordered replacements, but we need the total order to stay at 13.”
Labour minister for defence readiness and industry, Luke Pollard, retaliated in a social media statement. He said: “The armchair general who cut our forces is at it again. And wrong again. Truth is we are ordering eight Type 26 frigates, Norway at least five Type 26 frigates. The Tories want to talk down our Royal Navy for their political point scoring.”
When will the Type 26s enter the Royal Navy fleet?
A mammoth £10bn agreement was signed between the UK and Norway in August 2025 to export City-class vessels. The aim is for both nations to use the ships primarily in the North Atlantic and High North, protecting allied waters from Russian interference.
The Type 26 frigates are HMS Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Newcastle, London, and Edinburgh. They are designed to scope out submersibles using advanced weapons systems and radars, and provide a complement to the Royal Navy aircraft carriers on operations. The closest to completion, HMS Glasgow, had her engines tested in landmark trials at the end of 2025.
Mr Pollard previously said they are due to enter service from 2028 and into the 2030s. Delays in the Royal Navy getting the full compliment of vessels are possible with the build slots being passed on. Mr Cartlidge cited delayed in the Defence Investment Plan, and “powerful” government criticism from Strategic Defence Review chief Lord Robertson as signs of Labour not taking the armed forces seriously. “We need to reduce welfare to fund defence,” Mr Cartlidge said. “Looking at the world as it is, our top priority needs to be to keep our people safe and we need to make those tough choices.”
Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage added: “At the end of the day, the most important thing is people’s prosperity and employment. The wider Portsmouth harbour era understands more than anywhere in the country the vital importance of having a strong Royal Navy.
“It’s so interlocked with the Royal Navy’s position in our country and in our world. It’s important to invest in it and support it. The delays to the defence investment plan create uncertainty. Businesses, families, and the country can’t thrive on uncertainty.”
The government has pledged to raise defence spending to 2.6 per cent of GDP by 2027, and met the Nato target of 3.5 per cent on core defence by 2035. The previous Conservative governments have a patchy record with the armed forces.
Former defence secretary Ben Wallace said in January 2023 that the military was “hollowed out and underfunded”. Issues have included poor pay, missed recruitment targets, grotty military housing filled with damp and mould, and a reported £13bn worth of procurement waste. Between 2010 and 2024, real terms defence spending fell by £9.4bn, with funding kept at Nato’s two per cent floor.
When asked about this political record, Mr Cartlidge said: “Ironing over the past doesn't get us anywhere. Labour originally cut the number of Type 45s from 12 to six. They put in an engine that doesn’t work which is still being fixed and being completely rebuilt. Yes, defence spending fell sharply, but there was a reason for that.
“The country was basically bankrupt. We can have that argument, but it doesn’t get us anywhere. Our government showed incredible leadership with Ukraine. What labour has done is put everyone on hold, writing documents. That’s not good enough for the brilliant defence businesses here in Gosport, and it’s bad for the country as a whole.”