Letter: Labour all at sea in row over shipyards

I understand that Ian Davidson MP is chair of the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee.

He really should check the minutes of previous meetings of that committee before he suggests that the UK's ability to award naval shipbuilding contracts is any more reassuring than that of the independent Scottish Government will order.

On 2 April, 2008 Vic Emery, managing director of BAE Surface Fleet Solutions, in his evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee, expected that after the contracts for the two aircraft carriers are complete the Navy order book will be equivalent to one 5,000 ton vessel per annum, and that the industry is set to shrink.

Even that opinion now looks over-optimistic as the advice was given before the UK's parlous economic position was made public, and the consequent reductions in the defence budget dawned.

Whether Scotland remains part of the UK or not, the writing is on the wall for all BAE's shipyards in the Britain both north and south of the Border unless they diversify.

Clearly with the previous Labour government's contraction of the Royal Navy to half its operational capacity of 12 years ago and the further reductions by the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition government, it is unsustainable to depend on defence naval contracts to keep any yard alive.

At the present time BAE and other yards in the UK fail to win Ministry of Defence contracts such as the one secured by the Dutch merchant and naval shipbuilders Damen to supply the Royal Navy with 29 support vessels.

Contrast the UK shipbuilding industry's dependence on military work with that of small nations, such as Denmark, Norway and Finland, whose highly successful merchant shipbuilding yards also allow them to build vessels for their own navies.

Unionist members of the committee should note that all these countries have not had the "benefit" of membership of the UK.

Graeme McCormick

Arden

By Loch Lomond

Your report (9 June) quotes several Labour sources stating the palpably true facts regarding future shipyard contracts for UK defence if Britain is broken up. There will be none.

Where, one wonders, were these various Labour spokesmen and women in the run-up to the last Holyrood election? Shipyard contracts, base closures, withdrawal from Nato - I cannot recall a single mention. Instead of these vitally important matters, Labour "attacked" on the mundane matters carefully planned and orchestrated for them by Alex Salmond. A ten-point lead was turned into a humbling defeat by trying to be "more Scottish" than the professional Scots in the SNP.

Am I the only one to feel the bile rise in my stomach at the First Minster mouthing the words "the settled will of the Scottish people" as he prepares to meet Nick Clegg?

What he means is the settled will of perhaps a majority of the 25 per cent of the total electorate who voted for him.In truth, Mr Salmond speaks, firstly, for his own ego and glorification, as he sees it; secondly, for his party, andthe people of this country come a long way after in third place.

Alexander McKay

New Cut Rigg

Edinburgh