The SNP has called on the UK Government to heed a “scathing” report from MPs that they say reveals Scotland’s vulnerability to overseas aggression.
Westminster’s influential defence committee said it has “serious concerns” about the funding and timetable of the new fleet replacing frigates that are due to be decommissioned.
Questions have been asked about the UK’s ability to defend itself if, as feared, the number of warships falls below the current level of 19 for any length of time.
Douglas Chapman, a Fife SNP MP who sits on the defence committee, said Scotland has been left “poorly defended and the Royal Navy in crisis” following broken promises from the Tories to shipbuilders on the Clyde.
He said: “The SNP will do everything we can do make the government listen to this report, come good on their infrastructure investment promises, and start taking the defence of Scotland seriously”.
Conservative MP Julian Lewis, who chairs the committee, told BBC Scotland on Monday that not being able to defend ourselves properly is “always the risk when you don’t invest enough in defence in peacetime”.
The Royal Navy, which will no longer have a presence in Fife after the MoD Caledonia’s base closure by 2022, will see its Type 23 frigates gradually retire from 2023.
But a deal has not yet been finalised on to replace them with Type 26 and Type 31 models.
An MoD spokesman said: “We are investing in a growing Royal Navy by building two aircraft carriers, the new Type 26 Global Combat Ship, Dreadnought and Astute class submarines, and offshore patrols vessels.”
