YOUR columnist Iain Macwhirter states:
"The next generation of Type 26 frigates has now been secured at Govan without the independence 'wrecking clause' urged by Labour MP Ian Davidson" ("The nation's going south ... and Scotland's paying", The Herald, November 14).
This is factually incorrect. Nothing has been secured. No order has been placed.
The formal announcement of an open secret - that the Clyde is BAE Systems' location of choice to build the Type 26 within the UK - is welcome confirmation of what has been known for years but this should not be confused, as Mr Macwhirter does, with anything being "secured".
This factual error then leads him to a false conclusion: that my proposal for a break clause was designed to be an "independence wrecking clause".
I took the view that an awarded contract, even with a break clause, while less desirable than a contract without conditions, was nevertheless better than no signed contract at all. Given that the UK Government and the Ministry of Defence have already made it clear that no order will be placed outside the UK, I believe my proposal was a realistic effort to provide additional support to the workforce and to de-risk any contract for the MoD.
I don't mind Mr Macwhirter disagreeing, but I expect him to report accurately the strategy which he, as a columnist, was disputing.
If he had checked with me I would have been happy to clarify the factual position and explain why, knowing that no firm order was going to be placed before the referendum, I felt justified in arguing that a qualified contract, awarded now, was better than no contract at all.
Mr Macwhirter could have mentioned that three blocks of the aircraft carrier, which were scheduled to be completed in Portsmouth, will now be moved to the Clyde solely in order to keep Scottish workers in jobs. He also fails to mention that while the OPV order is welcome, and again has been placed to keep Clyde workers in employment, steel will not be cut until after the date of the referendum.
Those who wish to give the impression that the Type 26 order is in the bag should consider what would happen if the position were reversed: would a Scottish Government ever place a major order abroad if it could place it in Scotland - even at extra cost? Why would we expect a future UK to be so generous as to sack its own workers and enrage its own voters in order to provide employment for Scots, in what by then would be a foreign state?
The main threat to the future of shipbuilding on the Clyde remains. It is the Yes campaign's aim to remove Scotland from the UK.
The closure of the shipyards may be considered a price worth paying by some. Let them argue that case, but we should be in no doubt that separation shuts shipyards.
Ian Davidson,
Labour MP, Glasgow South West,
3 Kilmuir Drive, Glasgow.
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