Anger As UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon Refuses to Sign Off Warship Contract (excerpt)
(Source: The National Scot; posted Sept 13, 2016)
By Kirsteen Paterson
Britain’s Secretary of State for Defence is tied up in a contract dispute with BAE Systems over the Royal Navy’s future Type 26 frigates. MoD wants a lower price while BAE, saying production numbers have been sharply cut, argues it cannot go any lower. (BAE image)
Fallon has been repeatedly pressed over delays to the contract with BAE Systems, which was originally set to include 13 state of the art Type 26 frigates and provide a new production facility which would make the Clydeside yards in Glasgow internationally competitive.
However, investment in the site is understood to have been shelved after the project was cut to just eight ships and a target start date for May was delayed indefinitely.
The hold-ups have sparked anger from trade unions who claim their members were lied to during the independence referendum campaign, when the UK Government said staying in the Union would protect their jobs.
Yesterday local MP Chris Stephens told Fallon: “We want these ships, not excuses.”
Meanwhile, Commons defence committee chairman Julian Lewis said the Ministry of Defence was solely to blame for delays. He said: “Isn’t it a fact that BAE Systems are ready to start cutting steel right now, and the only thing that’s holding things up is a lack of funds in the MoD’s budget?”
“If we don’t start building these ships on time, surely we will end up with the same old story, that we will drop below the already inadequate total of 19 frigates and destroyers.
“Or, if we don’t, we’ll have to pay a lot more money to keep old ships in service longer than they should be kept in service.”
Fallon said the timetable for the project would be set out “shortly”, but declined to give a date.
He went on: “I am not prepared to sign a contract with BAE Systems until I’m absolutely persuaded that it is in the best interests and value for money for the taxpayer, and indeed for the Navy.” (end of excerpt)
Click here for the full story, on the National.scot website.
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Type 26 and General Purpose Frigates (excerpt)
(Source: House of Commons Hansard; posted Sept 12, 2016)
-- The cost and production schedule for the Type 26 global combat ship will be decided at the “main investment decision” point of the programme. Negotiations are ongoing with BAE systems to deliver a contract that will give value for money to both the Navy and the taxpayer. The general purpose frigate programme is in its very early stages. Decisions on build location and timetable will take advantage of the recommendations of the national shipbuilding strategy.
…/…
-- There will still be a large number of new frigates, but there will specifically be eight new anti-submarine warfare ships, designed to protect the deterrent that the Scottish National party voted against just a few months ago. I hope that the timetable will be set out shortly, when the design continues to mature and the negotiations with BAE Systems have been completed.
…/…
-- Let me reassure my right hon. Friend. We have already invested more than £1.8 billion in the Type 26 ship, and I announced a further £183 million in July for the guns to go on the ship. Much of the design work has been completed, but I am not prepared to sign a contract with BAE Systems until I am absolutely persuaded that it is in the best interests of the taxpayer and, indeed, the Navy, giving value for money to both.
Click here for the full transcript of the Q&A session, on the House of Commons website.
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