1:19pm Wednesday 1st September 2010
By Andy Richardson
A NORTH-EAST MP has attacked reports that the coalition Government is considering plans to share the production of two UK aircraft carriers with France.
Teesside has been identified as one of the areas that could supply steel for the project that would help secure jobs and boost investment in the region.
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop has labelled as “a dog’s dinner” suggestions that British involvement in the project would be downscaled, and called on the Government to protect British jobs rather than enter into a joint venture with the French.
He said: “I have to say that this is one of the daftest proposals I have yet heard from the coalition.
My first concern would be that this could put future job creation on Teesside at risk. Teesside had been identified as one of the areas that could supply completed steel components and sections for final assembly elsewhere at either Tyneside, Rosyth or Portsmouth.
“This could now possibly not happen as there are very competitive French shipyards in locations like Le Havre which would be hungry for the work any joint venture would entail – and we all know that the French government would give more support for this than our Government would for us.
“The proposal also seems to be a dog’s dinner in terms of operational use. French interests and ours are as different as chalk and cheese.
“What would happen if there was to be another Falklands crisis ? Would deployment be subject to a veto from Paris?
“Both ourselves and the French are nuclear powers too, and it is scary to think of the implications if there were confused operational orders from different governments over deployment.
“I think this idea needs burying quickly and for the Government to give the go ahead to the project and the jobs that would flow from it as a UK priority.”
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