Lamont ‘is putting jobs under threat’

CRITICS have warned that Labour leader Johann Lamont is threatening jobs and putting millions of pounds at risk by calling for a review into contracts awarded to China to provide steel for the Forth Crossing.

Ms Lamont had previously claimed Alex Salmond had gone to China and “pulled off a master deal”, telling MSPs: “The Chinese got an £800m steel contract and we got two pandas.”

She raised the issue after it was announced that Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors, the consortium responsible for delivering the principal contract for the crossing, had struck deals with “major international steel suppliers in China and the EU”.

But today SNP MSP Colin Keir said: “Already there are around 300 people working directly on the new crossing and jobs and orders coming to Scottish companies. Suspending the contract would see their jobs put in danger, existing contracts scrapped and millions added to the bill.”