§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many jobs will be provided by the United Kingdom purchase of Trident missiles; and how many of these will be in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. ButlerFifty five per cent. of the estimated cost of Trident at £8,729 million is expected to be spent in Britain. As my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement told the hon. Member for Colchester, North (Sir A. Buck) on 24 July at column602, the Trident programme is expected to create an extra 18,000 job opportunities directly and 14,000 indirectly in the United Kingdom during the peak years of the project. No information is available on job opportunities created by the dollar expenditure, including that on the missiles. However, a number of United Kingdom companies are competing for work on the American Trident II programme, with the potential for further jobs being created in the United Kingdom.