During a debate on defence in the Scottish Parliament Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser took time to state the importance of the defence industry to the Fife economy whilst also stressing the inherent risks posed to the industry, by an independent Scotland.
Murdo also took time to explain the issues Scottish ship builders would face in securing work from the UK in the event of independence and the fact that recent Norwegian Naval vessels have been built in Spain and South Korea.
In the Chamber Murdo Fraser MSP said:
“In my region of Mid Scotland and Fife, we have great companies such as Raytheon Systems in Glenrothes, which employs more than 500 people, and Rolls-Royce, which has a presence in Dunfermline. Elsewhere in Scotland, Vector Aerospace is in Perth, there is Babcock in Rosyth, which works on aircraft carriers, and there are great companies such as Selex ES, Thales, QinetiQ and, of course, BAE Systems on the Clyde. All those companies rely on exporting, of course, but they are underpinned by UK domestic contracts from the Ministry of Defence, and they are key components of the Scottish economy. The jobs that they support are often well paid, highly skilled and much sought after, and we should be very concerned about anything that threatens them.
“If Keith Brown was the minister for defence procurement, can we imagine him coming to this chamber and announcing that a warship was to be built somewhere other than Scotland and that Scottish jobs would be lost? That would never happen in a million years, so why would it happen in the rest of the UK post independence?
“Despite the protestations from the SNP benches, it is absolutely clear that the future of Govan is threatened by independence. Those jobs will be under threat if people vote yes in the referendum in September next year.”