‘Scotland can deliver steel for crossing’ – union chief

A THIRD of the steel for the new Forth crossing could come from Scotland, a trade union chief has said.

Michael Leahy, general secretary of the Community union, said all the steel for the bridge could come from within the UK and he attacked the decision to award contacts to companies overseas.

He said: “It’s a scandal that the new bridge will not contain an ounce of Scottish steel. It will be coming from China, Poland and Spain.”

The union leader spoke out as Labour activists at the party’s Scottish conference in Dundee backed an emergency resolution calling for a “full and transparent” review of the procurement process for the new bridge.

Mr Leahy, himself a former steelworker, said 90 per cent of the bridge in the Forth Road Bridge had been produced in Scotland and that a significant amount of the steel for the new crossing could also have come from here.

He said: “Many people will think that Scotland doesn’t have the capacity to produce the steel for that bridge.” However, he added: “There are still steel plants in Scotland which are more productive than ever. The Tata steel plant at Dalzell still has the capacity and the capability to produce at least a third of the steel required for the new bridge. And what’s more, it’s less than 40 miles away from the construction site.

“The Chinese steel will have to travel over 12,000 miles. If nothing else, it can’t be the best steel for the environment. And the rest of the steel could have been UK-manufactured too, at plants in Scunthorpe and Teesside which have been providing steel for some of the world’s most iconic bridges for decades.”

Infrastructure spokesman Richard Baker said: “We know Scottish firms won’t get every contract but in the nearly £800 million contract for the new Forth Crossing, only £20m has gone to businesses based in Scotland.”

Colin Keir, SNP MSP, said: “This is an embarrassing boomerang attack by Labour who seem to have forgotten that they actually introduced the procurement rules under which these contracts were awarded.

“EU procurement law, introduced in 2006, clearly forbids the Government from discriminating in favour of Scottish firms. That point aside, no Scottish firms even submitted tenders for steel subcontracts.”