Carriers announcement delayed, Navy faces cuts says paper
Elections delay announcement but once it comes, RN has tough times ahead.

The broadsheet The Herald, published in Glasgow, reports today that a long awaited announcement on the construction of the UK's new aircraft carriers will be delayed primarily because of the Scottish elections.

Shipyard workers up and down Britain, but especially the Scottish yards, have been awaiting news on the contracts as it will mean a huge boost to the fortunes of shipbuilders as the biggest ever navy ships are built in the UK.

However a belief that an announcement would be imminent a couple of weeks ago has now turned to one will be made after the elections are held in Scotland in May. The Herald said this was decided upon to prevent accusations that the Government was seeking to sway voters minds if they made an earlier announcement.

'Hard bargaining' at shipyards was also a factor in the delay, said the paper.

The construction of the giant vessels will ensure work for thousands of shipyard workers around the UK with sections being built on the Clyde, at Barrow, Portsmouth and final assembly in Rosyth in Scotland. On top of this it has been made clear that all shipyards in the UK should benefit in some way or other, contributing to the construction efforts.

When the announcement comes though it will be time for the Royal Navy to face up to more cuts in its fleet to make up some  £250m overrun in fuel, maintenance and other costs says the paper. Quoting an un-named source this could mean, it claims, mothballing of two Type 42 destroyers and four Type 22 frigates.

Critics of the Governments navy policies have been vocal in pointing out that much of the RN's capability is in fact incapable at present, with ships laid up or 'in reserve' meaning that should a conflict arise they would not be commissioned for months. The Herald's source added to this by saying the carrier INVINCIBLE would only be in a ready state after 18 months of preparations and that five other vessels would take half a year to be made seaworthy.

Government spokespersons have however pointed out that the new wave of shipbuilding for the navy will result in a smaller but much more effective fleet to cover operations expected of them in the future. Currently the Clyde and Portsmouth enjoy a boom with construction of the Type 45 destroyers.

Last week the Prime Minister Tony Blair and Scotland's First Minister toured the Govan shipyard on the Clyde. Sheet metal worker Sheryl Dobie, who has recently completed her modern apprenticeship, and fourth year technical apprentice Ross Frew conducted the tour.

After meeting a group of 60 graduates and apprentices Mr Blair said, “This industry is immensely important for Scotland, immensely important for skills that once lost are hard to recapture, and immensely important for the national defence industry. He praised the Clyde workforce and said the Type 45s were 'absolutely vital' to the future of the Royal Navy.

And in Barrow this week, on Thursday Lee Foster, project manager at BAE Systems shipyard there, will outline what the construction of the new carriers will mean for Barrow. The meeting will take place at Chetwynde school at 7.30pm