Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey felt the full wrath of furious First Minister Alex Salmond last night after he appeared to suggest that Scotland’s two RAF bases at Leuchars and Lossiemouth face a straight fight to survive.
Mr Salmond said the minister’s comments were “utterly unacceptable” and that he had made a “mockery” of the decision-making process.
The belief that a Scottish base is in the line of fire came in the wake of reports RAF Marham in Norfolk is to be spared the axe.
Mr Harvey allegedly told campaigners during a trip to Lossiemouth in Moray that it would be “too expensive” to relocate Marham in Norfolk, effectively meaning the English base would definitely remain.
Calum McPherson is a spokesman for the Moray task force established in a bid to secure Lossiemouth’s future.
“We understand RAF Marham is now saved… It is now between Leuchars and Lossiemouth,” he said.
“We were told it would be too expensive to relocate Marham.”
However, Mr Harvey later denied that a decision has been made about Marham.
“I think (the task force) are overstating what I said,” he said.
“I simply made the point that the cost of relocating the RAF out of Marham would be very high and first and foremost the purpose of this whole exercise is to try to achieve financial savings.”
Mr Harvey added, “I have not said Marham is safe but I have candidly shared the fact that the costs of getting out of Marham are high and therefore not an attractive way of making short-term savings.”
Mr Salmond reacted furiously to the comments.Alarming”The extremely alarming comments from the UK armed forces minister which suggest that it is now between RAF Leuchars and Lossiemouth for survival are utterly unacceptable,” he said.
“It would be indefensible and unforgivable for either of Scotland’s two remaining RAF bases to close, especially on the back of the UK Government’s decision to close RAF Kinloss.
“The communities who depend on these bases have been told that they would be treated with respect during the decision-making process recent comments from Mr Harvey appear to have made a mockery of that promise.”
Meanwhile, after months of controversy and concern, there was further heartache for campaigners as it emerged a decision on the future of the closure-threatened bases would not be announced until the summer.
It had been hoped an announcement would be made within weeks.
SNP defence spokesman Angus Robertson branded the delay “reckless”.
He said the delay could cause prolonged “economic uncertainty”.
“The economic and social consequences of base closures are already being felt, and so this prolonged uncertainty is both damaging and reckless,” Mr Robertson warned.
“The approach of the UK government is creating a dangerous vacuum and lack of confidence.”
Mr Robertson urged the Ministry of Defence to announce a decision as soon as possible.
“Massive uncertainty has been created and this is leading to tangible negative effects in the private sector,” the MP continued.
“The obvious fear is that this will lead to significant civilian job losses even before decisions are made about military redundancies.”