Warship deal saves yard and torpedoes SNP's hypocrites

THE Scots Tory MSP Stephen Kerr described it as “hypocrisy on stilts from the SNP”.

- Ben Borland Scottish Daily Express Editor

Never mind stilts; this was more like hypocrisy on one of those giant AT-AT walkers from Star Wars, stalking the land with an irony-proof armoured shell.

The Nats, in case you missed it, recently made a pious performance out of refusing a pre-agreed £2.5million Scottish Enterprise grant to Rolls-Royce, which would have been used to set up a specialist submarine welding centre on the banks of the Clyde.

This boneheaded decision was taken because of the Scottish Government's policy of not using public money to support “munitions”, and left the engineering giant looking at bringing skills, jobs and investment to other parts of the UK.

Then yesterday, we learned that Ferguson Marine — the nationalised shipyard propped up with hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash — has won a lifeline contract to work on the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 frigates.

Displaying a neck that you couldn’t touch with a blowtorch, the contract from BAE Systems to fabricate three structural units for HMS Birmingham was warmly welcomed by Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes.

“Securing new business for the Ferguson Marine Yard has always been vital for the Scottish Government, which is why this contract is so welcome,” she enthused.