Chancellor John Healey Promises ‘New Age of Industrialisation’ and British-Built Submarine Docks

Britain’s Chancellor, John Healey, will promise a “new age of industrialisation” in his first address to the Labour Party conference as Chancellor on Monday, unveiling multi-billion-pound investments in British shipbuilding, according to Reuters.

He will confirm that three new floating docks for the Royal Navy’s submarine service at HM Naval Base Clyde will be built by British firms through a UK-only competition, given their importance to national security. Known as Programme Euston, the docks will service the UK’s current and future nuclear submarines and should be operational in the early 2030s as part of a £15 billion naval shipyard upgrade.

The Chancellor will also commit at least £115 million for a new marine research vessel to be built in a British shipyard, backing coastal communities, sustainable fishing and ocean research — an announcement foreshadowed by First Secretary of State Louise Haigh.

Healey will tell delegates that his politics were shaped by South Yorkshire’s industrial heartlands, pointing to Rotherham’s Advanced Manufacturing Park — built on the former Orgreave colliery site — as proof that while “our coal mines are not coming back”, Britain’s industrial past can be remade for the modern world.

The speech comes a month before Healey’s first budget on 28 October, as he seeks to revive sluggish growth — with defence spending central to Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s pledge to reindustrialise Britain and hit NATO’s 3.5 per cent of GDP defence target by 2035.

Sources:

• UK Government announcement: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/healey-pledges-new-age-of-industrialisation-as-government-backs-british-shipbuilding
• Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/uks-healey-puts-defence-focus-reindustrialisation-push-2026-09-27/
• Western Morning News: https://westernmorning.news/2026/09/27/healey-to-pledge-new-era-of-industrialisation-in-address-to-labour-conference/