The general secretary of the Unite union was due to visit Barrow today.

Len McCluskey's visit will "pledge his full support and determination to get a better deal for members working in defence jobs".

He says the union will "defend their jobs and communities every step of the way".

He said: "I am always staggered when I visit Barrow to see the sheer scale of the operation at the yards, and I am extremely proud to see Unite members at the forefront of maintaining these tremendous facilities.

"Our members working for BAE at Barrow represent the best of British manufacturing capabilities, an industrial tradition which has had a place in global shipping for over a century and a quarter.

"They are also the backbone of this local economy, bringing incomes and skills to a part of the country too often left out of the thoughts of those at Westminster.

"The Tory government has been most guilty of carelessness with our members’ livelihoods, preferring to point-score over nuclear policy and Trident renewal than plan responsibly for the future of the ship and submarine building industry.

"I have always been clear, to all parties and to all governments: Unite members’ jobs and communities will always come first.

"Now, with Britain at mortal risk of leaving the single market, I am determined that Theresa May’s government will commit to an industrial strategy that keeps UK defence spending in Britain, jobs and skills in Barrow-in-Furness and security for all the communities that rely on this, the UK’s biggest shipyard, to thrive.

“But this also means supporting British skills and workers, by ending the senseless policy that has seen investment which should have come to places like Barrow and to defence workers around the country go overseas.

"It is not acceptable that 12p in every pound of defence spending is spent in the US and elsewhere and that unless government policy changes tack, this will jump to 25p in every pound by the end of this decade. That has got to stop, which is why I am determined to carry on the fight for Unite's defence members."