Sturgeon claims Clyde shipbuilders have been ‘betrayed’ by government
Shipyard workers in Glasgow have been “let down and betrayed” by the UK government after it announced plans for work on new warships to be split across different sites, Nicola Sturgeon has claimed.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the first batch of five new Type 31 frigates could be built in blocks across several British shipyards and assembled at a central hub.
But the First Minister accused UK ministers of pulling back from a pledge that the yards on the River Clyde would become a “frigate factory”.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I think people should be looking to the UK government and reflecting on the fact there has been lots of promises made to the Clyde but more often than not those promises are broken.”
Sir Michael faced a backlash after claiming there already was a “frigate factory” at BAE Systems’ Scotstoun shipyard. A plot of land earmarked for development has lain empty since the order for Type 26 frigates was cut from 13 vessels to eight, with the remaining five replaced by the scaledback Type 31 model.
Sir Michael said: “The Clyde are getting eight frigates without competition and that is 20 years of work for just one yard. There is a huge frigate building programme on the Clyde but the remaining five frigates in the programme we’re opening up to competition.”