Fresh hope in ship build bid

CAMPAIGNERS calling for three Royal Navy supply ships to be built in Britain believe there is a precedent for blocking foreign bids.

Ministers say European rules mean overseas firms can bid for the work as the vessels are not warships.

But a Parliamentary answer revealed BAE Systems, a British firm, was handed a deal “noncompetitively” in 2009 to build five patrol vessels.

Labour MP Paul Sweeney said the supply ship stance was “a betrayal of British workers”.