'Make a decision, man!' Government urged to back British industry over Royal Navy contracts
A Black Country MP has urged ministers to change policy so all Royal Navy support ships are built in British yards.
Former Armed Forces minister John Spellar said the move should be signed off before Brexit in order to prioritise the UK's defence industry and guarantee jobs in British shipyards.
Currently the contracts for called 'solid support vessels' – which supply ammunition and food to Royal Navy ships at sea – have to be tendered internationally under EU laws, while all vessels classed as warships must be British built.
Leading defence figures, including Defence Select Committee chairman Julian Lewis MP, have called for support vessels to be classified as warships, arguing that the work would support British jobs.
Mr Spellar, the Labour MP for Warley, accused ministers of failing to learn anything from the Brexit vote and said that it was vital that the UK's shipbuilding industry was supported.
Addressing Parliament during Defence Questions, Mr Spellar responded to Defence Secretary Ben Wallace who suggested that companies should invest where the skills are and where the customers are.
"That only applies if the customers are prepared to use their buying power to insist that that manufacturing takes place in the UK," Mr Spellar said.
"Even before we come out with Brexit, why won't he actually change Government policy and insist that the solid ship support vessels are built in British yards? Make a decision man!"
The plight of the UK's shipbuilding industry was raised in the House of Lords last week, with the Earl of Arran saying the closure of key yards had destabilised Britain's ability to build vessels.
It follows the demise of the Babcock-owned Appledore shipyard in North Devon, Harland and Wolff in Northern Ireland and the Ferguson yard on the Clyde in Scotland.
Responding to Mr Spellar, Mr Wallace – the Government's shipbuilding tsar – said Britain would continue to invest in its shipyards.
He cited UK shipbuilding giant BAE Systems, saying the firm continues to invest in its workforce because "it also manages to export around the world".
"When we export, we have to recognise we need international consortium, because we cannot just sell purely to ourselves – we have to export around the world," he added.
This month British firm Babcock was named as the preferred bidder to build five new frigates in a contract worth £1.25bn.
The Type 31 warships will be built at the Rosyth dockyard in Fife, where Babcock currently employs 1,500 people.
Meanwhile the awarding of a £1bn contract to build support ships to accompany HMS Queen Elizabeth has been delayed, with one bid coming from Spanish firm Navantia.
Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt has said she wants to make "the right to onshore every ship and to build them in the UK" part of Brexit negotiations.
