A newly elected Fife MP fears plans to build two new aircraft carriers could be sunk if the Tories and Lib Dems can strike a deal.
In an exclusive interview with The Courier, Thomas Docherty warns that while the first ship will be built the second is in “massive danger.”
That could put the security of hundreds of jobs at serious risk at Rosyth Dockyard and other fabrication yards around the UK, he argues.
The Fife yard would be particularly badly hit, as HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are due to be refitted there over the next 30 years.
Mr Docherty, who won back Dunfermline and West Fife from the Lib Dem Willie Rennie last week, pointed out Lib Dem Vince Cable had already made clear he did not want the ship.
The Labour MP added the Tories insisted they would include the multi-billion pound project in a new review of how Britain’s armed forces are funded.
“It’s hugely worrying for us all,” said Mr Docherty.
“I said during the campaign if I won the first phone call I made would be to Ronnie Hinds (chief executive of Fife Council) to get a meeting set up and I’ve done that.
“There’s a real danger that one of the things the Lib Dems and the Tories may actually agree on is the need not to build the second aircraft carrier.
“Don’t get me wrong, the Queen Elizabeth will get built — there is no danger at all that won’t happen.
“However, the Prince of Wales is in massive danger now.”
Mr Docherty added, “I cannot stress how much I think the second aircraft carrier is in danger.
“We know Vince Cable doesn’t want it and we know the Tories want to make massive spending cuts.
“Liam Fox told Raymond Duguid (one of the leading trade union officials at Rosyth Dockyard) when they met a couple of months ago that he would be looking at the possibility of break clauses in the contract.
“We know from what they’ve said publicly one of the Tories’ first acts when they get into the Ministry of Defence will be to ask for a briefing on what can and cannot be cut and we know they are going to commit the carriers to the SDR (strategic defence review).”Largest warshipsWork on the Royal Navy’s so-called supercarriers was finally given the go-ahead in 2008 after the plans spent years on the drawing board.
At 65,000 tonnes each, they are the largest warships ever ordered by the navy.
More than 4500 jobs, including more than 1000 at Rosyth, have been secured during the construction phase.
The Queen Elizabeth is due to enter service in 2016, two years behind schedule.
The Prince of Wales is scheduled for completion in 2018, provided the second vessel actually gets built.
Mr Docherty said the whole of Fife had to get behind the project, because it affected not just the dockyard, but the region’s entire economy.
He pointed out hundreds of jobs at firms in Fife were dependent on the work.
Rolls-Royce at Dalgety Bay won a £13m contract to provide part of the ships’ high-tech propulsion system.
In Glenrothes, BrandRex won a £3m contract to supply fibre optic cabling.
“It is not all doom and gloom,” Mr Docherty insisted, adding that he plans to launch a campaign to ensure the Prince of Wales gets built.
“We need to build a consensus here in Fife. I think if we can get people to leave party politics out of this and get them behind the campaign we can make a case.
“There is actually a genuine need for having supercarriers for force projection, for Britain’s role in the international community.”
The ships are so big they are having to be built in sections and brought to Rosyth for final assembly.
The bow section of the Queen Elizabeth arrived at the Fife yard just last month.