Defence experts warned there were now “question marks” over the future of Scottish shipbuilding after it was confirmed a new fleet of destroyers would not be built.
HMS Cardiff, one of the new Type 26 frigates, is floated off from the BAE shipyard at Govan
An increase in defence spending must secure shipbuilding jobs in Scotland and not lead to orders being sent overseas, the UK Government has been warned.
In one of his final major policy announcements as Prime Minister, Keir Starmer today said spending on the Armed Forces would reach £80bn a year by 2029 – up from £54bn when he took office in 2024.
The Prime Minister said his Government had learnt “the lessons of Ukraine” and will ramp up spending on drone technology. This include transforming the way the Royal Navy operates over the next few years.
But industry experts said there were now “question marks” over the future of Scottish shipbuilding after it was confirmed the six Type 45 destroyers currently in service will no longer be replaced by the planned Type 83 versions.
The Navy will instead get several cheaper ships called common combat vessels that will act as hubs controlling a fleet of uncrewed vessels or drones.
Political pressure is already growing to ensure the new vessels are built in Scotland, where the Clyde yards and Rosyth are already established centres of naval shipbuilding excellence.
The Glasgow yards at Govan and Scotstoun are currently working at capacity building the Type 26 frigate programme – but there is now uncertainty over where future orders will come in the 2030s.
Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, said: “The spending announced today will help secure the UK but must also secure skilled UK jobs and modern, world-class apprenticeships.
“Every pound spent making our country safer should be a pound spent making our country and our communities economically stronger.
“For too long, our governments have been content to send work, jobs and skills abroad, while allowing our own industrial capabilities to wither. It cannot go on. Procurement must be far faster and much fairer.”
Gilmour said defence companies, from the naval shipyards in Glasgow and Fife, to small, specialist engineering firms need a pipeline of work to secure jobs and recruit apprentices to begin closing Scotland’s widening skills gap.
She added: “Scotland has highly skilled workers, from coders to shipbuilders, but not nearly enough. This investment offers the opportunity to change that.
“Our country does not need to sustain its skilled workforce but grow it and that demands more world-class apprenticeships training our young people in the skills of tomorrow.”
Paul Sweeney, Scottish Labour MSP and a former shipyard worker, said: “We need a commitment from the Government to continuous shipbuilding at Govan, Scotstoun and Rosyth – and how that will be achieved to sustain the country’s industrial base.
“The common combat vessel proposal does make sense. Having spoken to industry contacts and in Government, the idea these will be smaller than a Type 45 destroyer is not necessarily the case.
“Steel is cheap, and I think we’ll see a ship built on that kind of scale to act as a serious command ship.”
George Allison, editor of the UK Defence Journal, told the Record: “The trouble is, this is less work overall than the industry expected.
“The assumption had been the Clyde would build six or so Type 83 destroyers, and Rosyth would pick up a number of Type 32 or further Type 31s – two separate streams of work, avoiding the feast and famine cycles of the past.
“Norway ordering five Type 26s helps the Clyde and pushes its workload further out, but it does not change the underlying problem, -which is that once the Type 26 run finishes there is currently nothing lined up to follow it on the Clyde in the latter part of next decade, now the destroyer work has gone.
“It leaves a real question mark over the Clyde in the 2030s, and across Scotland as a whole it amounts to less shipbuilding than was on the cards even a week ago.
“There’s nothing in the pipeline after Type 26 at Govan, so what happens next? Six frigates isn’t enough to keep two major naval shipyards running into coming decades.”
Douglas Alexander, the Scottish Secretary, said: “Scotland’s world class defence sector will directly benefit from the UK Government’s Defence Investment Plan.
“From the naval shipbuilding expertise on the Clyde and at Rosyth, to our nuclear deterrent and submarine support at Faslane, to our world-leading strengths in cyber, space, advanced radar and electronic warfare, Scotland’s diverse and capable defence sector will continue to deliver the capabilities our Armed Forces depend on every day.
“The UK Government’s Defence Investment Plan will make Britain safer at home, stronger abroad and deliver a defence dividend for Scotland with opportunities for communities across the country.”
