A British shipbuilding “renaissance” will be sparked by a shift towards supporting UK industry, the UK Government has said.
Defence minister Jeremy Quin told MPs the naval procurement policy will be changed to make clear the option to “choose to procure warships of any description here in the UK”.
He added small and medium-sized companies must also have a “fair chance” to secure work.
The remarks have been welcomed by trade unions, but one Scottish union chief has warned that the Scottish industry needs investment for there to be a genuine "renaissance".
Mr Quin's comments come after yesterday's announcement to reduce the size of the army by 10,000 troops, and invest in more technology such as robots and drones.
Speaking in the Commons today, he detailed the Government’s Future Defence and Security Industrial Strategy.
He said: “It signals a shift away from global competition by default towards a more flexible, nuanced approach.
“It provides, and we will continue to provide, greater clarity about the technology we seek and the market implications long before we launch into the market, allowing companies to research, invest and upskill.
“It identifies where global competition may not be compatible with national security requirements.
“And it, at last, regards industry as a strategic capability in its own right, an industry we must devote our attention to if we are to maintain our operational dependence.”
READ MORE: Boris Johnson breaks manifesto pledge by cutting 10,000 army troops
On naval procurement, Mr Quin added: “We believe it is time to spark a renaissance in British shipbuilding, that’s why we are today changing our naval procurement policy to make clear our ability to choose to procure warships of any description here in the UK.”
For Labour, shadow defence secretary John Healey said he supported the ending of the “global competition by default” policy, adding: “It’s high time we put an end to a British Government being just as happy buying abroad as building in Britain.
“We welcome a change to naval procurement policy and we welcome the commitment to invest £6.6 billion in defence R&D over the next four years.
“However, there is a question at the heart of this strategy: is this the start of a new era, not just to make in Britain and maintain in Britain, but also to develop now the technologies and companies that we’ll need in 10 years’ time to then procure in Britain?”
READ MORE: Alister Jack: Black Watch cuts have "never been on the agenda"
GMB Scotland Secretary Gary Smith said the UK Government's "vision is ambitious, but it will only be realised with major investment in our shipbuilding infrastructure to manufacture the Royal Navy vessels of the future."
He said: "The solid support ship and surveillance contracts are key to unlocking the huge potential of UK shipbuilding, and with it the prospects for yards like Rosyth, as well as supply chain firms like Harland & Wolff and Ferguson Marine.
"That means lessons must be learned from recent failures, like the award of previous contracts navy contracts to South Korea, and the broken promise of a world-class frigate factory on the Upper Clyde.
"You can’t 'level-up' communities or the country if you export desperately needed contracts and jobs to the rest of the world. The ball is in the government’s court."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel