50,000 defence jobs 'at risk'

Published on Monday 23 June 2008 22:42

UP TO 50,000 jobs could be at risk if an independent Scotland lost new orders from the Ministry of Defence, MPs warned yesterday.

A report by the Labour-dominated Scottish affairs committee said that aeronautics firms and shipbuilders were unlikely to relocate in the short to medium term and the industry was "more stable" than it had been for some time.

But it added: "In the long term it is unclear what naval requirement an independent Scotland would have and whether this would make up for the loss of UK MoD orders."

The MoD recently gave the go-ahead for a 3.8 billion contract for two aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. They will be built partly in Scotland.

SNP MP Angus MacNeil accused Labour MPs of "baseless scaremongering" and said Scottish firms would be able to secure work on the basis of their "formidable" skills.

But David Mundell, the Tory shadow Scottish secretary, said many contracts would be lost as "defence contracts do not tend to cross national borders".