Clyde yards threatened

Plans for two Clyde-built Type 45 destroyers could be scrapped by the UK?s Ministry of Defence as part of a long-term £12bn budget cut demanded by the Treasury ahead of next year’s Whitehall departmental spending review.

Six of the advanced air-warfare ships have already been ordered, with one launched and two more under construction as part of a rolling programme designed to replace Falklands War-era escort vessels. A spokesman for BAe Systems, the owner of the Govan and Scotstoun yards in Glasgow, said yesterday that the company had “planned prudently on the basis of six orders”. However, he added that the company was still hoping for two more.

The shipbuilder has already been told that the ministry would like eight of the new destroyers, but “not at any price”. Cancellation of the £600m warships would have no short-term impact on the 3,400 jobs on the Clyde, but might become an issue if there are delays in plans for the two 60,000-tonne aircraft carriers promised as the backbone of the future Navy. The MoD is expected to make an announcement on the main gate decision to finance the £3.6bn carriers before Parliament rises for the Christmas recess