Shipbuilding ‘put at risk’

SCOTTISH shipbuilding could be destroyed by uncertainty over independence, leading to thousands of job losses, trade unions have warned.

BAE Systems, which owns the Govan and Scotstoun shipyards, has been awarded a four-year, £127 million contract to design and plan new Type 26 combat ships.

But Hugh Scullion, general secretary of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, said BAE Systems was bound to take the Scottish political context and “the prospect of a referendum” into account when deciding their future.

He said: “There’s no chance of a remodelled UK government, without Scotland, putting an order to the Clyde, so we can’t afford to wait around with this background of uncertainty.”

SNP defence spokesman Angus Robertson attacked the claims as “scaremongering”.