'It's an insult to Scotland's shipyard workers!' SNP blasted for SNUBBING aircraft carrier
THE SNP’s indifference to Britain’s new state-of-the-art £3.1billion aircraft carrier is “an insult to the thousands of Scots” who built her.
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A senior executive at Babcock International, the owners of Rosyth dockyard where HMS Queen Elizabeth was assembled, described the giant warship as “one of the greatest ever engineering projects carried out in Scotland”.
Yet, when the 65,000-tonne warship set sail for the first time on Monday, there was no official recognition from the Government, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon or any of her SNP Ministers. The shipbuilding boss, who asked not to be named, said: “I am disappointed for our workforce that their own Government has ignored this project and dismissed it as an English project being carried out in a Scottish naval yard.”
The executive added: “The project has involved suppliers from across Scotland, has produced hundreds of apprentice and graduate opportunities for Scottish youngsters, has involved several universities in development and technical support activities and has been a landmark project for Scotland watched by countries around the world.
“None of this has been recognised by the Scottish Government and that is an insult to the many thousands of Scots who have produced the carriers.”
Sources also point out that politicians, admirals and royalty from around the world have been to see HMS Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, being built.
It’s very disappointing that it took a direct question in the Scottish Parliament to get any kind of acknowledgement from the First Minister about the importance of this project.
The only high-profile visit by a Scottish minister came when Alex Salmond attended the formal naming ceremony in July 2014 and was booed by workers.
And, in stark contrast to the silence from St Andrew’s House, up to one million people are expected to welcome the aircraft carrier when she eventually arrives at her home base in Portsmouth.
Babcock International is a member of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance along with BAE Systems, Thales and the Ministry of Defence, set up in 2005 to build the Royal Navy’s biggest ever warships.
The project has supported 4,000 Scottish jobs. Sections of the ship have been built at six UK shipyards, including BAE Systems on the Clyde in Glasgow as well as yards in Portsmouth, Birkenhead, Tyneside and Devon, before being assembled at Rosyth.
Military analyst Stuart Crawford, the SNP’s former defence spokesman, said: “The lack of interest from the SNP Government has got a lot to do with the party’s ambivalence towards all things military. Defence is not in the SNP’s comfort zone and Nicola Sturgeon simply doesn’t get it at all.
“In part because of Ruth Davidson’s championing of the armed forces, it is increasingly seen as a Tory topic and in certain quarters of the party the aircraft carrier signifies everything that is wrong with British imperialist ambition.
“Having said that, this was probably an oversight rather than anything malicious but how many of the Rosyth workforce will be voting SNP after that? It was a real vote loser.”
Mr Crawford added: “I suspect that if Angus Robertson had still been an MP then the start of sea trials would not have gone unnoticed. He had a genuine interest in defence matters.”
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After a question from Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser at Holyrood yesterday, Ms Sturgeon said: “I commend all those at Rosyth and elsewhere in Scotland who have contributed to the construction of the Queen Elizabeth. I thank them for their efforts and wish them well as they move on to their next assignment, so I have no difficulty, for once, in agreeing with Murdo Fraser.”
Mr Fraser said last night: “It’s very disappointing that it took a direct question in the Scottish Parliament to get any kind of acknowledgement from the First Minister about the importance of this project.
“Normally SNP ministers are desperate to associate themselves with engineering projects in Scotland. But when it comes to a major investment for the whole UK, they simply don’t want to know.”