The Scotsman

‘Gross betrayal’ if £1bn Royal Navy contract sent abroad, unions warn

● 11,000 jobs in the balance as Scottish yards face foreign competitio­n

- By PARIS GOURTSOYAN­NIS Westminste­r Correspond­ent

The UK risks missing out on more than 11,000 engineerin­g jobs and £285 million of tax revenue if it awards contracts to foreign shipbuilde­rs as part of a £1 billion order for three new Royal Navy vessels.

Unions have warned the government against a “gross betrayal” of UK shipbuildi­ng after documents obtained under Freedom of Informatio­n legislatio­n revealed the Ministry of Defence is in talks with companies in Germany, Italy, Holland, Poland, South Korea and Spain to build three fleet auxiliary vessels.

Foreign companies are competing with five UK shipyards that have expressed interest in the contract, including Rosyth, Scotstoun and Port

0 Rosyth dockyard recently celebrated the launch of aircraft carrier the HMS Prince of Wales Glasgow. The contract to work on the vessels, which replenish warships with food and other supplies, is set to go out to internatio­nal tender at the end of this month.

Up to 6,700 jobs could be created or secured in the UK if the order went to a domestic shipbuilde­r, including thousands of roles in the supply chain, according to the GMB union.

A contract to build four Tideclass tankers was awarded to Daewoo in South Korea, with critics saying that foreign firms have been offered billions of pounds worth of lowinteres­t loans and financial guarantees by their government­s to help them win deals.

GMB national officer Ross Murdoch said: “Ministers are not bound by normal EU rules on competitiv­e tendering when it comes to military ships. There really can be no excuse for sending our shipbuildi­ng contracts overseas.

“We face being sold down the river if the work goes to artificial­ly subsidised internatio­nal competitor shipyards instead.

“It would be a gross betrayal of the spirit of the ‘red, white and blue Brexit’ that Theresa May promised if this crucial contract is awarded outside of the UK and jobs here are lost.”

Shadow Scotland office minister and ex-clyde shipyard worker Paul Sweeney said awarding the work to a foreign company “could do permanent damage to our highlyskil­led industries on the Clyde and elsewhere across the UK”.

SNP defence procuremen­t spokesman, Rosyth MP Douglas Chapman, said: “This Tory government … is ignoring the value for the taxpayer by having these ships built at the likes of Rosyth instead of yards in other parts of the world.”

An MOD spokesman said: “All our warships are built in the UK and with the Type 26 frigates securing 4,000 Scottish jobs and 20 years of work on the Clyde, and industry preparing to bid for the new Type 31e class, we are witnessing a renaissanc­e in British shipbuildi­ng.

“We are launching a competitio­n for three new Fleet Solid Support ships this year and strongly encourage British yards to take part.”

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