A slice of £1 billion will be made available to “maintain the pace” of the Dreadnought programme being delivered in Cumbria.

The additional funding for the Ministry of Defence was a response to tackling the “scale, scope and complexity” of the threats facing Britain, chancellor Philip Hammond told the Commons during the Autumn Budget.

He said that the money – which would cover the remainder of the financial year and stretch across 2019-20 – would be spent on boosting the UK’s “cyber capabilities, anti-submarine war capacity and maintain the pace of the Dreadnought programme to ensure continuous a sea deterrence”.

“(It is) a deterrent that allows us to sleep easy in our beds but one that the leader of the opposition and his shadow chancellor have spent their political lifetimes campaigning to abolish,” said Mr Hammond, commenting on the programme being delivered at the BAE Systems facility in Barrow.

“Nobody should be in any doubt that on this side of the house we are proud of our armed forces and we will always back them with the investment they need to keep this country safe,” he added, nodding at defence secretary Gavin Williamson.

Barrow and Furness MP, John Woodcock, welcomed the announcement but added a word of caution in light of another revelation during the Autumn Budget, that a defence spending review will be undertaken next year.

“The extra slug of investment for the Dreadnought programme in the budget is welcome and should just about keep funding from the Treasury on track for the rest of the year,” said the former Labour turned Independent MP.

“Past delays in giving the go-ahead and unexpected issues in keeping the ageing Vanguard boats on track means it is touch and go whether the new boats will come into service in time to maintain the UK’s continuous at-sea deterrent.

“It is vital that the Treasury makes sufficient funding available up from so now it is all eyes on the defence spending review next year in order to ensure our nation’s safety and keep the order book running smoothly in Barrow.”

Mr Hammond also announced that a further £160 million of funding would be committed to counter terrorism activities in 2019-20.

A further £10m was also pledged to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust to help mentally ill veterans.