Defence Secretary hails shipbuilding industry 'certainty' on Clyde visit

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said no other industry has as much certainty as shipbuilding on the Clyde as he moved to allay union concerns over future Navy orders.

With work on a new type 31e frigate to be opened to bids, Unite said it was "not sure'' it could trust government promises on future orders.

Senior shop steward Duncan McPhee believed the work would be coming to Glasgow along with the eight type 26 ships and three offshore patrol vessels currently under construction.

Sir Michael said he has "kept faith'' with the Clyde, which has 20 years of guaranteed work under the type 26 programme, and dismissed union concerns.

"No other industry in Britain has as much certainty as those who work in shipbuilding,'' the Defence Secretary said.

"There's 20 years of work guaranteed for the Clyde now and BAE Systems are teaming up with Cammell Laird to bid for the type 31 as well.

"It will be a powerful bid combining the skills and expertise here with Cammell Laird but there will be other bidders as well, and other yards, but I expect a very strong bid from BAE-Cammel Laird and that means the skills here on the Clyde will be re-employed again.''

Mr McPhee, Unite officer at BAE Systems on the Clyde, said competition between yards for Navy contracts was dangerous.

"The national shipbuilding strategy has changed,'' he said.

"This work should have been concentrated in Glasgow. It should have been 13 frigates. Now it is down to eight.

"The government is trying to introduce a failed policy for complex naval ships, which is to have open competition within a country.

"None of our peer countries do that - France, Italy, Spain, Germany, certainly the US. They have what is called a national champion to provide complex naval ships.

"We had this failed policy in the past.

"If we go back to the 1980s, we had internal competition where shipyards went bust taking on contracts that they couldn't deliver.''

Sir Michael was speaking at the official naming of the second offshore patrol vessel HMS Medway in Scotstoun, where his wife, Lady Wendy Fallon, was the ship's sponsor.

He said there was a "renaissance'' in British shipbuilding and hopes future type 31e ships can be built for export.

"The numbers aren't slipping, there are going to be eight heavy frigates (type 26) and five general purpose frigates (type 31e) - that's 13 replacing the current type 23s and if British industry can come in at the price that we've set, within #250 million per ship, then we can go on and build more.

"We can build a bigger fleet and we're also hoping, if they get the price right, to export a ship.

"The aim of the light frigate programme is to export a ship new, we've not done that since the 1970s.

"We've got to get back to that and the skills are here on the Clyde.''

He added: "I'm very happy to talk to the unions about their concerns.

"Twenty years of guaranteed work is something no other industry has and the Clyde is going to do well out of a growing Navy, building the heavy frigates, part of the carrier and they have every prospect of putting in a strong bid for the light frigate."