SCOTTISH SECRETARY CHALLENGED TO TAKE STANCE OVER ISLAND JOBS.
SHORT SIGHTED DECISION TO LONG TERM DETRIMENT OF DEFENCE SECTOR,
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has been challenged to guarantee the future
of 125 defence jobs as reports today (Sunday) suggest the UK Government is
set to announce the downgrading of a rocket test range and its associated
sites in the Hebrides.
Pointing to further reports which suggest that downgrading the Hebrides
Range will significantly limit the UK's ability to develop and test new
generations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones which have been
described by American defence chiefs as “game-changing” in the battle to
defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan, SNP MP for the Western Isles Angus
MacNeil said the decision was detrimental not just to the local community,
but to the wider defence sector.
Mr MacNeil said:
“There is no doubt that the loss of these jobs would be a hammer-blow for
our fragile island economy, but the run-down of the base would clearly
also have a serious strategic and operational impact on defence
capabilities.
“If these reports are correct the Labour Government's failure to secure
the future of this range and these jobs is unforgivable. The fact that the
run-down of the base is being pushed ahead before the Government's own
strategic defence review next year underlines just how irresponsible
Ministers are being.
“Warm words from the Scottish Secretary are simply not enough. If people
in the Western Isles can’t keep their jobs then Jim Murphy should resign
his.
“A Scottish Secretary worth the title should be standing up for Scottish
jobs, but since Labour came to power, more than 9,000 defence jobs have
disappeared. These figures expose the lie of the Labour government's claim
that they support defence jobs in Scotland.
“The downgrading of the Hebrides Range is a short sighted measure which
will have a long term impact on the Scottish defence sector – limiting our
capacity to develop and test new generations of a significant emerging
technology.
“With the decision to close the Hebrides Range, the UK Government have
shown yet further disregard for Scotland’s defence sector.”
Notes: Official Ministry of Defence (MoD) figures reveal that 9,500 Scottish defence jobs have been lost since Labour came to power. The statistics reveal there are now 1,930 fewer service jobs and 4,570 fewer civilian jobs in Scotland than there were in 1997 with a further 3,000 jobs based on direct MoD expenditure lost between 2002 and 2007. The total jobs figure in terms of direct jobs: http://www.dasa.mod.uk/
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