Defence Secretary says Clyde shipyard's have 'certainty'
(about 7 hours later)
Union representatives have said they hope to speak to Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon about the future of Scottish shipbuilding.
The defence secretary has claimed that no other industry has as much certainty as shipbuilding on the Clyde.
Sir Michael is to visit two shipyards on the Clyde later.
Sir Michael Fallon said order books would be full until 2035, guaranteeing 20 years of work.
Unite senior shop steward at BAE Systems, Duncan McPhee, said he was "not sure" if he could trust government promises on future orders.
His words follows comments from a Unite union shop steward that he was "not sure" he could trust UK government promises on future orders.
Mr Fallon said future work could underpin a "renaissance in UK shipbuilding".
Duncan McPhee said ministers had changed strategy and cut the number of ships to be built on the Clyde.
He said the first batch of type 31e ships could be built in blocks across several shipyards before assembly at a central hub.
He was referring to an expectation that a contract for five Type 31e warships would be built by BAE Systems workers at the Clyde's Scotstoun yard.
These ships and eight new type 26 frigates being built at Scotstoun are intended to replace ageing vessels in the Royal Navy fleet.
Central hub
However, ministers now want the frigates to built in blocks at yards across the UK before being assembled at a central hub.
Sir Michael said that workers at BAE Systems on the Clyde were already building eight Type 26 frigates, along with five offshore patrol vessels.
He was attending the official naming of the second offshore patrol vessel, HMS Medway, in Scotstoun, where his wife, Lady Wendy Fallon, was the ship's sponsor.
The defence secretary said: "No other industry in Britain has as much certainty as those who work in shipbuilding.
"There's 20 years of work guaranteed for the Clyde now."
Sir Michael said that BAE Systems had teamed up with the UK's largest shipbuilder, Cammell Laird, to bid for the new Type 31 contract.
"It will be a powerful bid, combining the skills and expertise here with Cammell Laird.
"But there will be other bidders as well, and other yards, but I expect a very strong bid from BAE-Cammel Laird and that means the skills here on the Clyde will be re-employed again." He said.
'Failed policy'
'Failed policy'
The union believes the UK government has reduced its commitment to building type 31e warships on the Clyde.
Union representatives had said they hoped to speak to Mr Fallon about the future of Scottish shipbuilding during his visits to Scotstoun and the Ferguson yard in Port Glasgow.
Mr McPhee told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "The national shipbuilding strategy has changed. This work should have been concentrated in Glasgow.
Speaking ahead of Sir Michael's visit, Duncan McPhee from Unite the union, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "The national shipbuilding strategy has changed. This work should have been concentrated in Glasgow."
"It should have been 13 frigates. Now it is down to eight.
Mr McPhee said workers on the Clyde had initially expected to build 13 Type 26 frigates, but this number had been reduced to eight.
"The government is trying to introduce a failed policy for complex naval ships, which is to have open competition within a country.
He added: "The government is trying to introduce a failed policy for complex naval ships, which is to have open competition within a country.
"None of our peer countries do that - France, Italy Spain, Germany, certainly the USA. They have what is called a National Champion to provide complex naval ships.
"None of our peer countries do that - France, Italy Spain, Germany, certainly the USA. They have what is called a National Champion to provide complex naval ships.
"We had this failed policy in the past. If we go back to the 1980s, we had internal competition where shipyards went bust taking on contracts that they couldn't deliver."
"We had this failed policy in the past. If we go back to the 1980s, we had internal competition where shipyards went bust taking on contracts that they couldn't deliver."
He added: "We fully support spreading work across the UK if it can be done, but this is not the ship to do it on.
Sir Michael said he was "very happy" to talk with the unions about their concerns.
"This is about a 3,5000-tonne ship - 4,000 at the most - whereas the aircraft carriers Michael Fallon refers to were 65,000 tonnes each and they were done in block-builds across the UK and as we know assembled at Rosyth.
He added: "Twenty years of guaranteed work is something no other industry has and the Clyde is going to do well out of a growing Navy, building the heavy frigates, part of the carrier and they have every prospect of putting in a strong bid for the light frigate."
"A fantastic project - companies working together, trade unions working together to deliver that.
The formal procurement competition for the new Type 31e frigates will open in the new year.
"That doesn't apply to the type 31 contract. It is only a small ship, so the block-build part across the UK will not happen because it would be absolutely uneconomic.
"What we should be doing, and what the trade unions on the Clyde fully support, is a UK campaign to make sure the work on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships that are coming up...is spread across the UK with them being assembled here.
"The government want to put that out to international tender which almost certainly will lead to these ships being built abroad and we will have another debacle like we did with the four oil tankers that we put out being done in Korea.
Central hub
"And it might be worth people checking out the performance of the Koreans on these ships - they are not exactly going too well."
Sir Michael is scheduled to visit BAE Systems' Scotstoun yard in Glasgow, where his wife Lady Wendy Fallon will officially name an offshore patrol vessel HMS Medway.
It is one of a fleet of five being built under contracts the MoD said were worth £626m.
Later the defence secretary will travel to the Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow.
Sir Michael is making a tour of all the UK's major shipyards ahead of industry proposals for the new type of Royal Navy frigate.
He has already visited Cammell Laird shipyard in Merseyside, and Harland and Wolff in Belfast.
Export market
Speaking ahead of his visit to the Clyde, Sir Michael said: "With our cutting-edge Type 26 frigates already being built on the Clyde, I know Scottish skilled engineers will relish the chance to compete to build a brand-new class of warships for the growing Royal Navy.
"We want to make the most of the renaissance in UK shipbuilding, delivering the latest ships that will help protect our nation and our interests across the world."
The type 31e has been designed, in part, with the export market in mind.
The UK government has said it will work with industry to "provide the certainty and support" needed for it to become internationally competitive.
The UK's approach to Royal Navy procurement has been strongly criticised by the SNP.
Defence spokesman Stewart McDonald MP said: "We have the skills, the expertise, the infrastructure in Scotland. But what we have also had is years of promises from Westminster that have been broken."
The formal procurement competition for the new frigates will open in the new year.
