FURIOUS opposition MPs yesterday accused Defence Secretary Malcolm
Rifkind and Scottish Secretary Ian Lang of treachery and betrayal after
confirmation that Devonport had won the vital Trident refit contract.
Mr Rifkind's attempt to soften the blow to Rosyth with a guarantee
that it would be allocated work on surface ships until 2005 failed to
placate angry Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Scottish Nationalist MPs,
who kept up a barrage of criticism after the official announcement.
Making his statement, Mr Rifkind faced a line-up of senior Scottish
Labour MPs sitting on the Opposition Front Bench, including Mr George
Robertson, Mr Gavin Strang, Mr Donald Dewar, Mr Tom Clarke, Mr Gordon
Brown, and Mr John Reid.
Their case was put by Front Bench defence spokesman George Foulkes,
who said: ''There is no doubt on this side of the House about the
capacity of the workforce at Devonport to carry out the Trident refit
contract, but I am sure they would accept that this decision is a bitter
blow for the men and women of Rosyth and a betrayal of the promises
given by previous Tory Defence Secretaries.
''The decision must put the Secretary of State for Scotland in a
difficult, if not untenable position,'' he said, adding that 800 more
workers from both dockyards would be thrown on the scrapheap.
Mr Rifkind replied with an attack on Labour's initial opposition to
the entire Trident programme, telling the House: ''If they had been
accepted, not only would there have been no nuclear work at either yard,
but thousands of civilian jobs at Faslane and Coulport would also not
have been available.''
He said he regretted the uncertainties of the past few months, but
added that the savings to be obtained by the decision to opt for
Devonport must be a factor to be ''weighed very heavily''.
From the Tory benches, Mr Phil Gallie (Ayr), referred to Labour claims
that thousands of jobs would be lost, and urged Mr Rifkind to confirm
that the total number of job losses would be 450 at Rosyth and 350 at
Devonport.
Mr Rifkind told him there had been ''a lot of scaremongering, both in
the South-west of England and in Scotland about the consequences of this
matter''.
Also from the Tory benches, Mr Raymond Robertson (Aberdeen South) said
there would be a great sense of relief that the Secretary of State for
Scotland and the Defence Secretary had been able to guarantee Rosyth's
future, while Mr George Kynoch (Kincardine and Deeside) said the
Government had come up with a positive package.
For the Liberal Democrats, defence spokesman Menzies Campbell (North
East Fife) accused the Government of a breach of faith.
SNP leader Alex Salmond demanded: ''Why should people in Scotland take
the Rifkind combination of radioactivity in Faslane and redundancies in
Rosyth?
''How do you have the brass neck to stay in office and why is the
Secretary of State for Scotland not taking stock of his own position?''
Mr Rifkind replied that Mr Lang had played a very important part in
ensuring Rosyth had a role for the future. He added that none of
Scotland's defence-related jobs would have ''lasted a moment'' if the
SNP's views had been endorsed.
Closing the exchanges for Labour, defence spokesman John Reid strongly
criticised the way the Government had handled the matter. He said: ''The
manner in which it has been conducted leaves this Government wide open
to the accusation that it has no defence strategy. There has been months
of dithering and distress and years of deceit.''
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