Exclusive:'Many jobs' would be lost if Labour copied SNP defence stance, says Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister told The Scotsman “you cannot get these orders if you’re the SNP and you’re timid about security and defence”.

It comes after an £8 billion typhoon deal with Turkey was announced earlier this week, supporting 800 jobs at Leonardo in Edinburgh.

Sir Keir also warned that Reform UK “would be an absolute disaster” for Scotland “because none of these deals would be coming through.”

And he vowed that there is “more to come” on defence spending and jobs north of the border.

The Prime Minister said “many, many jobs” would be lost if the UK government had taken the SNP’s attitude towards defence.

He said: “In order to win these contracts, you have to be world class and you have to be serious. You have to have the confluence of other countries that you believe in defence and security.

“You cannot get these orders if you're the SNP and you're timid about security and defence, or even worse than that, actually being open that they don't really want these contracts.

“There's no way the SNP could possibly have got these orders. Just think of the sheer number of jobs, that's 25,000 jobs in Scotland. By the way, I'm ambitious. I want that to go up, not down.

“We're going to be spending more on defence. The percentage is going up. And what you're seeing with Norway and with Turkey is other countries wanting strategically to align with the United Kingdom.

“As I said to the workers in the Clyde shipbuilding yards, I would say to the Leonardo workers, we only win these orders because of the reputation they have, their skill and their professionalism.

“Scotland is so good at this, and that's why I think the SNP is so wrong headed in its approach to defence and security.”

Earlier this year a Rolls Royce welding centre in Glasgow was thrown into doubt because the SNP does not use public cash to fund munitions.

The UK Government stepped in with £2.5m after Scottish Enterprise funding was made unavailable.

Sir Keir added that the Leonardo jobs would not be protected if Reform were in office because its leader Nigel Farage is “Putin friendly”.

He said: “Let me just take on Reform in Scotland. If the UK was not a leading country in NATO, there's no way we would win these deals.

“No way at all. And NATO's biggest challenge at the moment is the conflict in Ukraine.

“You've got Farage who is Putin friendly, would not be taken seriously by our NATO allies.

“On the contrary, Reform would be unable to give any confidence in the reputation of the United Kingdom, and these deals would simply not happen under his watch.

“And for Scotland, that would be an absolute disaster because none of these deals would be coming through.

“Nobody would see the UK as a reliable partner under Reform.

“In terms of the defence sector, Reform would be an absolute disaster for Scotland.”

Sir Keir added that he wants more defence jobs in Scotland: “We signed this deal with Türkiye for typhoons. It’s worth a huge amount of money, £8bn, 10 years worth of jobs across different parts of the UK.

“But obviously the fact that 800 of them are going into Edinburgh in Leonardo is really important, to be able to support those jobs and support them for a decade.

“More to come is my ambition.”

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Reform UK Councillor Thomas Kerr said: "Keir Starmer is an international embarrassment - the idea Britain is safe under his watch is ridiculous.

"His Labour Party has prioritised those coming here illegally, over our own citizens - as for Scotland, the only thing of significance he has done is rehouse Cameron Barracks, but with illegal migrants rather than our troops."

The Scottish Government was approached for comment.