Cameron in threat to Scottish defence jobs

THOUSANDS of workers in Scotland's naval shipyards were last night warned their jobs could be at risk after David Cameron admitted a future Conservative government would review all major defence contracts.

The Tory leader conceded all major programmes – including the two new aircraft carriers being partly built in Scotland and the replacement Trident programme based on the Clyde – would be reviewed if he became Prime Minister.

Labour politicians reacted with anger and disbelief, with John Park, the MSP for the Rosyth area and a former union official at the yard, warning Rosyth would cease to exist as a naval shipyard without the aircraft carrier orders.

The two new carriers are being partly constructed on the Clyde and are due to be assembled at Rosyth. The joint project is due to secure thousands of jobs at both yards for the next eight years.

The Trident submarines, which carry the nuclear missiles, are based at Faslane on the Clyde and are important for employment in the area.

The replacement programme for Trident has already been scaled down by the Labour government and could be reduced even further by an incoming Conservative administration.

A total of 10,000 jobs depend on the two aircraft carriers throughout Britain, with at least 6,000 in Scotland alone.

Labour has claimed 11,000 jobs in the west of Scotland are dependent on naval operations at Faslane, although the SNP argues only a few hundred posts would go if Faslane closed.

Yesterday, Mr Cameron said a Tory government would have to review existing defence spending commitments "across the piece" as it battled to bring the public finances under control. He said: "We support things that are in the forward defence programme because we think there is good justification for all of them.

"But that doesn't mean in these difficult circumstances that you don't have to look – just as you are looking across government – at all of these things.

"Whether … the armed services need … to project power through having a proper navy and carriers; having the best replacement there is for an independent nuclear deterrent – there are reasons for all of these things. But clearly, when you are reviewing spending, you have to review all spending."

A Tory spokesman later tried to play down the scale of the review, insisting that Britain's nuclear deterrent would not be cancelled completely.

However, Mr Cameron's remarks confirmed speculation that had been growing for some weeks, that a cash-strapped administration would be forced to cut some of the costliest defence projects.

Glasgow Labour MP Ian Davidson said: "Thousands of jobs in Scotland will go if the Tories cut defence spending in this way. The Clyde and Rosyth workers need answers from the Tories now. We cannot put jobs and the future of our communities on the line like this."

Mr Park said: "You cannot have a future for Rosyth without the aircraft carrier orders.

"These are due to take Rosyth beyond its current programme and then Rosyth would be in a position to refit and provide maintenance for the carriers throughout their lifetimes.

"This would provide employment for shipyard workers for years to come."

Mr Cameron's announcement leaves Labour as the only major political party committed to both the aircraft carrier orders and replacing Trident.

The SNP has been supportive of the Scottish yards in their hunt for carrier jobs, but an independent Scotland would never be able to commission massive defence projects like the ships.

The Scottish Government has also done all it can to remove Trident submarines from Scotland, insisting it would retain Faslane, but only as a small naval base, not for nuclear submarines.

If a Tory government was returned at the next election, it would be possible to stop the carrier orders, but that would be costly to do so.

Work has already started on the "blocks" which will make up the carriers, two of which are being built on the Clyde.

The Rosyth yard has been given the job of assembling the blocks into 65,000-tonne ships when they are completed. To date, the Ministry of Defence has awarded £151 million of carrier-related sub-contracts to Scottish firms, a figure which is expected to rise to nearly £4 billion when the carriers are finished in 2015.

The Clyde shipyards were only expected to get one of the sections of each carrier to construct, but ministers announced last month that work scheduled for Barrow-in-Furness was being moved to the Clyde, giving the Glasgow yards an even bigger stake in the project.

Angus Robertson, the SNP's defence spokesman, said:

"Trident is frankly obscene and, in the current economic climate, it is obvious these resources should be better spent."

A LESS SOPHISTICATED ENEMY

THE debate over future defence spending was sparked by David Davis, the former shadow home secretary.

Mr Davis argued that difficult decisions would have to be taken by an incoming Tory government, including on the Trident replacement.

"There is no firmer advocate of nuclear deterrent than me, but even I have some difficulty seeing the justification for a wholesale upgrade of Trident.

"Our system was designed to maintain retaliatory capacity after a full-scale Soviet nuclear onslaught. Now our likeliest nuclear adversary will be much less sophisticated. Should not the costs reflect that?"