The Scotsman

Labour MP in plea over Scottish shipbuildi­ng

- By TOM PETERKIN

Labour MP Paul Sweeney has called on the UK government to commit to build all naval service ships in UK shipyards, including building the new Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers in Scotland.

Mr Sweeney, a shadow Scotland Office minister, will push for a parliament­ary debate on the government’s shipbuildi­ng strategy in the New Year.

The strategy guarantees that complex warships will be British-built, but not larger support vessels.

Labour say the pledge fails to make the best use of Scottish naval shipbuildi­ng expertise and capacity while raising serious questions about national security by opening the bidding process up to internatio­nal competitio­n.

Mr Sweeeny said: “The Tory government is underminin­g confidence in our defence industry, with the new National Shipbuildi­ng Strategy failing to commit to build these vital ships in the UK, as jobs and capacity across all British yards cannot be sustained by the Type 26 and Type 31 frigates alone.

“The defence shipbuildi­ng industry supports thousands of skilled jobs in the Glasgow area and at Rosyth, yet the Tories seem more interested in a quick saving than they are in actively supporting that world-leading sector.

“They are already planning to sell off the huge Goliath crane used to assemble the aircraft carriers at Rosyth which could readily be used to build the new RFA vessels and secure jobs there for decades to come.”

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