Chancellor Healey to pledge "new age of industrialisation" with £15bn shipbuilding boost

John Healey is set to tell Labour conference delegates that Britain is entering "a new age of industrialisation", as the chancellor prepares to make his first major speech at the party's annual gathering in Liverpool on Monday.

In remarks expected to be dominated by heavy industry and manufacturing, Healey will acknowledge the end of a particular era of British economic life, telling delegates that "our coal mines are not coming back". Instead, the former defence secretary will argue, Labour intends to remake the country's industrial traditions "for the modern age" by throwing the government's weight behind advanced manufacturing.

The speech comes with the chancellor under mounting pressure. With only a month to go before his first Budget, Healey faces calls to cut spending or raise taxes to address the rapidly rising cost of government borrowing. Officials have suggested, however, that he will not use the conference platform to preview any of those decisions, instead attempting to set out a broad, optimistic vision for British industry built around what he has described as a "new confidence in Britain".

The centrepiece of the announcement is a substantial boost for the shipbuilding sector. Healey is expected to confirm that three new floating docks will be built for the Royal Navy at HM Royal Naval Base Clyde in Faslane, rather than being put out to international tender as had previously been floated.

Plans for the docks were first set out in 2023, and they are intended to upgrade the Scottish base's facilities for the next generation of British submarines. The vessels are part of a wider £15bn programme to modernise the Royal Navy's shipyards, and are expected to enter service in the early 2030s.

Speaking on Sunday, First Secretary of State Louise Haigh said the government would also commission a new marine research vessel, framing the move as part of a broader "new era of reindustrialisation". The chancellor is expected to attach £115m in funding to the ship, which is also due to come into service in the early 2030s.

Healey has already defended the direction of travel, saying backing British shipyards would do more than strengthen national security. In remarks made ahead of his conference appearance, he argued that the policy would secure resilience in industries capable of driving growth today while building the capabilities the country will need in the future.

The Conservatives have dismissed the plans as recycled. Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith said the announcements were "reheated announcements" with "no clarity on where the money is coming from", adding that Labour was "running scared" of the difficult choices required to pay for Britain's defence spending. "All they can offer is reannounced docks and more hot air from Healey," he said, before adding that only the Conservatives would cut the welfare bill to fund defence.

Trade unionists, however, have welcomed the emphasis on domestic yards. Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, national secretary of the GMB union, which has campaigned for the change, called the move a "massive boost" for UK shipbuilding. He said: "For too long juicy contracts have been sent to overseas - often subsidised - yards," adding that the policy "could reinvigorate UK yards and the communities that depend on them".

The speech lands as new data point to a cooling economy. A Confederation of British Industry survey due to be published on Monday will show falling activity across key sectors, including retail and services, over the three months to September, with manufacturing declining at a more moderate pace.

CBI deputy chief economist Alpesh Paleja said rising energy and employment costs, combined with weak demand, were continuing to squeeze corporate profit margins. He also warned that uncertainty about next month's Budget was holding back activity in some parts of the economy, and pressed ministers to draw "a clear red line" under any further increases in the cost of hiring, investing and doing business.

There is also union pressure on the chancellor to do more for households. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has urged Healey to "do something for workers and the working class" in his Budget, calling on him to unfreeze income tax thresholds to put money back into people's pockets, and to take further action on energy bills.

Alongside the industrial pledges, Healey is expected to revive a trade union-run training programme designed to help workers in England acquire new skills. The Union Learning Fund will receive £15m in taxpayers' money, drawn from existing government budgets, and will cover everything from English, maths and digital skills to training for jobs in expanding sectors such as advanced manufacturing. Employees do not have to be union members to take part.

The wider political picture will dominate the conference in Liverpool. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, whose own major speech is due on Tuesday, has previously championed his ambition to "reindustrialise" Britain, a theme he has raised in discussions with US President Donald Trump in the past week. Attention will also focus on proposals for an NHS-style social care system for England, a plan Burnham is expected to promote as part of his conference programme.

For Healey, the challenge is to turn a set of well-timed announcements into a credible economic strategy at a moment when business groups warn that the outlook is weakening — and to show, before the Budget, where the money for all of it is coming from.