THE election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader has generated much excitement and some worry that his long-standing opposition to nuclear weapons could affect employment here.

I am pleased to be able to reassure you that nothing can disrupt the submarine successor programme that has sustained many thousands of super high-skilled engineering jobs across the county.

Investment coming from submarine renewal is critically important. Scores of supply chain companies, along with small and medium-sized enterprises within our region, can benefit enormously as a result and many hundreds of our young people can look forward to long careers in the shipyard and satellite industries.

That makes it a key part of the industrial renaissance under way in the county that will make Cumbria among the premier global centres for advanced manufacturing.

In Ulverston, as local MP, I have been proud to lobby for the new £350m factory at medicine manufacturer GSK, that will eventually create around 500 permanent posts.

On the Cumbrian coast NuGen has unveiled a blueprint for a £10bn nuclear plant expansion that will generate up to 21,000 posts, including the construction phase.

A short distance from our western coastline major wind projects continue to proliferate and play an important role on the Energy Coast.

The Walney Extension offshore construction has the potential to begin construction in 2017 and jobs will be created as a result. And our cutting edge LED lighting companies in Ulverston are determinedly finding new markets to export their products.

There is overwhelming parliamentary support for four replacement submarines to be built at the booming BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow and that will be confirmed next year.

I respect Jeremy Corbyn’s long-held views on nuclear weapons but I disagree with them completely. So, as it happens, did Labour conference delegates in Brighton this year, who chose to maintain support for the renewal programme that the last Labour government initiated when it was in office.

But despite the fact that Jeremy and local MP Tim Farron will vote against it, nothing will stop the submarine programme going past the point of no return. There is an unshakeable majority for the project, which brings huge economic benefit for the whole county.

I understand and agree with those who say that such an important decision as maintaining the UK's position as a nuclear weapon state should not be based on its economic impact alone.

My support for keeping the UK's nuclear deterrent while other countries have nuclear weapons is not simply based on local jobs; it is the right thing to protect Britain and in an increasingly unstable world in which we cannot possibly know what the threats facing the country will be in 30 or 40 years’ time.

Completing the submarine renewal programme does not prevent us pushing for faster international progress on non-proliferation and multi-lateral disarmament; in fact it allows us to continue to be a force in what will be difficult and hard headed negotiations.

But if we scrap or downgrade the submarine programme now, that will be it. Disrupt or delay the amazing and finely honed expertise in Barrow shipyard and beyond and the skill base will scatter.

Submarine building is the most complex large scale engineering feat that exists across the world. If the nation abandons that capacity, it will never be able to reform it and the UK would irresponsibly be placed on an unstoppable path to unilateral disarmament.

So it is reassuring for global security and local jobs that the submarine programme is nailed on. As a proud local MP, I will never stop pushing for what is right for our area and right for the country.