Devonport warships are axed in defence cuts

BUT CITY MP LUKE POLLARD SAYS ‘THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT’

- WILLIAM TELFORD

THREE Devonport-based warships are to be scrapped in a cost-saving exercise announced by the Government but city MP Luke Pollard insisted the future of Plymouth's defence industry remained bright.

Amphibious assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark and the Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland are to be decommissioned as part of a plan to save the Ministry of Defence £150m over the next two years.

Secretary of State for Defence John Healey made the announcement in the House of Commons, also saying that two support tankers, Army drones and helicopters would also be scrapped. He blamed the former Tory Government for leaving Labour with the "dire inheritance" of a financial black hole.

Mr Pollard, under-secretary for state for the armed forces, told The Herald that Albion and Bulwark had effectively been mothballed by the previous Tory government and would never see service again in any case. He said Labour had merely made a decision the previous government had avoided.

He stressed that HMS Northumberland was in such a poor state of repair it was not economically viable for the ship to return to sea - and it was due to be replaced by a new Type 26 frigate anyway.