Independence ‘could risk 4,000 Scots shipyard jobs’

UP to 4,000 jobs could be lost at Scottish shipyards as UK warships are built elsewhere after independence, the Westminster government has claimed.

The official UK government reponse to the Commons Scottish affairs select committee’s investigation into the impact of independence says shipyards on the Clyde and at Rosyth will not be eligible to bid for defence contracts after independence.

The submission, published ahead of Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Scotland today, says the only “certain” way to keep thousands of defence jobs in Scotland is to remain within the UK.

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The UK government says Scotland benefits from multi-billion pounds of Ministry of Defence contracts – including the construction of Type 45 destroyers and the assembly of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

The document says more than 2,000 jobs on the Clyde and up to 2,000 jobs at Rosyth are “directly linked” to the MoD shipbuilding programme.

The UK currently takes advantage of an exception to EU procurement law (Article 346) that enables it to build aircraft carriers and destroyers at home, thus protecting contracts from European competition.

Assuming the Westminster government continued to implement the exemption after independence, Scottish shipyards would not be used to build British warships, because Scotland would no longer be in the UK.

The government document says: “As this exemption is currently applied, Scottish shipyards would not be eligible to bid for contracts to build complex warships for the Royal Navy if Scotland was to become independent.”

If, after independence, the UK government decided not to take advantage of Article 346, an independent Scotland within the EU would have to compete with all other EU member states for the contracts.

Ahead of his visit, Mr Cameron said: “Defence matters – and defence jobs matter.”

The Prime Minister insisted being part of the UK opened doors for the Scottish defence industry around the globe, including the sale of Typhoon fighter planes overseas benefitting Scottish firms which make its components.

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“Scotland counts for more on the world stage because it is part of the United Kingdom, and Scottish defence jobs are more secure as part of the United Kingdom,” Mr Cameron added.

But SNP defence spokesman Angus Robertson MP said it was unwise for his pro-Union opponents to put defence at the centre of the independence debate, given the Scottish opposition to nuclear weapons.

Mr Robertson said the Scottish Parliament and 80 per cent of Scots were opposed to the Trident submarine system based at Faslane.

“It is the most enormous blunder for the No campaign to place Trident at the centre of the referendum debate,” Mr Robertson said.

“It just shows that when it comes to defence, Westminster isn’t working for Scotland,” he added.

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