After months of worry and speculation, the shroud of uncertainty was finally lifted from the shoulders of Rosyth dockyard’s 1500-strong workforce when Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg assured them the aircraft carriers contract would go ahead.
While with Scottish Secretary Michael Moore on an early morning visit to the Babcock-operated yard on Tuesday, Mr Clegg confirmed the £5.2 billion contract to build both HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales would be spared from cuts as part of the government’s strategic defence review.
He met workers to reassure them that their jobs were safe and admitted there was a “great sense of relief” among the Rosyth personnel who make up some of the 10,000 strong workers around the UK whose livelihood depended on the contract going ahead.
“The workers are delighted to have heard we have now confirmed that the two aircraft carriers will go ahead because that means their jobs and skills are being safeguarded for the future.
“There are many thousands of people in the Forth, the Clyde and down in Portsmouth dependent on these contracts and they were very worried by the uncertainty.
“I think they are very relieved now that finally the decision has been taken to proceed, if in a slightly different way, with the construction of the aircraft carriers,” he said.
He said the government would continue the building of the aircraft carriers at Rosyth and Govan, but that they would have to be shared with the UK’s allies.’Ludicrous legacy’And he blasted the “ludicrous legacy” from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Labour party.
“They had arranged for these aircraft carriers to be built in a way which couldn’t actually be shared with our American and French allies.
“We believe we will need to share these carriers in terms of aircraft landing and taking off from them long into the future.
“We’ve made some decisions which means that we’ll not only go ahead and build the aircraft carriers but we’ll build them differently so that they can be used interchangeably with our allies. We think it’s necessary because we’re not always going to face conflicts and wars on our own.”‘Security needs’Mr Moore added, “Over the last few months we have been grappling with the nation’s security needs.
“As part of that we’ve been considering how we shape our armed forces for the future.
“I’m delighted that in that context we are able to confirm that both aircraft carriers will proceed and that will mean work in Rosyth and in Govan will continue for a long time to come.
“Across Scotland, there are at least 5000 people directly involved in the construction, so this is really important for Scotland’s economy.”
The Deputy Prime Minister also confirmed that the government would be cancelling the Nimrod aircraft order.
He said that the decision would inevitably impact on the Moray communities dependent on RAF Kinloss and RAF Lossiemouth.
“There’s clearly an impact of some of the decisions we’ve taken,” said Mr Clegg.
“Cancelling the Nimrod aircraft of course has a knock-on effect on the bases in Moray, but it’s not the end of the story.
“We’re not going to abandon the families and communities which are dependent for their jobs and their livelihoods on those bases.
“For instance, we’re looking at the possibility of redeploying military personnel from Germany to the UK and perhaps using the bases for that purpose in the future.”
Mr Clegg said the government would work “flat-out” with the communities in Moray to make sure there was a future for them.
“The bases clearly will be affected by the decision not to go ahead with the Nimrod aircraft because the bases are servicing and supporting those aircraft.
“What I’m saying is that there are lots of other decisions which we’re going to take such as redeploying military personnel from Germany, which could provide a new future, a different future, for those bases.”
He said that the decision would inevitably impact on the Moray communities dependent on RAF Kinloss and RAF Lossiemouth.
“There’s clearly an impact of some of the decisions we’ve taken,” said Mr Clegg.
“Cancelling the Nimrod aircraft of course has a knock-on effect on the bases in Moray, but it’s not the end of the story.
“We’re not going to abandon the families and communities which are dependent for their jobs and their livelihoods on those bases.
“For instance, we’re looking at the possibility of redeploying military personnel from Germany to the UK and perhaps using the bases for that purpose in the future.”
Mr Clegg said the government would work “flat-out” with the communities in Moray to make sure there was a future for them.
“The bases clearly will be affected by the decision not to go ahead with the Nimrod aircraft because the bases are servicing and supporting those aircraft.
“What I’m saying is that there are lots of other decisions which we’re going to take such as redeploying military personnel from Germany, which could provide a new future, a different future, for those bases.”