Defence Secretary Wes Streeting's speech at the opening of Telford Gun Hall

Ladies and gentlemen, our dear friend, the German ambassador, Sean Davis, the local member of Parliament, who is Telford’s greatest champion on the national and international stage, it really is a huge privilege to be with you all to open the new UK Gun Hall today. Special thanks are due to Armin, to Rebecca, to everyone from Rheinmetall, not just for laying on this great event, but also for your long-standing investment in Britain and the jobs and communities which that investment supports.

I think the fact that we’ve got such an array of leaders and representatives from across government, industry and the military speaks to the critical importance of this new facility, and I want to start by sending every single word you heard about the importance of what we’re marking today.

As someone who loves our country’s history, it’s not lost on me that we’re a stone’s throw away from the birthplace of British industry, and a part of our country that’s synonymous with engineering and manufacturing.

So it feels especially fitting that we’re here to celebrate how we are renewing and reigniting that unique industrial strength. Today is a vote of confidence in our country, a statement of intent on our mission to reindustrialise Britain and create good, well-paid jobs across our country, and proof that we are rebuilding the capabilities of our armed forces.

And so what we’re opening the doors to here is more than a manufacturing plant. We’re opening the doors to something much greater and much more ambitious. And that is readiness and resilience. For the first time in decades, artillery gun barrels will be produced in Britain. They will be made using British steel from Forgemasters. As we’ve heard, their production will create one hundred jobs here and hundreds more across the supply chain right across the country.