Charlie Smith
A UNION has slammed the UK Government over a potentially lucrative shipbuilding deal for Spain, despite the country’s pressure on Gibraltar.
Four foreign firms, and one British group, are in the running for the €1.15 billion Royal Navy contract, including Spanish shipbuilders Navantia.
Ross Murdoch of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions pointed to the wargames Spain has been attempting to engage the British in off Gibraltar.
“Our members are saying to us, ‘With all this going on in Gibraltar, are we seriously going to award the contract (to a Spanish firm)?’,” he told MPs at the Commons Defence Committee.
The Fleet Solid Support ships in question will support the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and fellow vessel, Prince of Wales.
The British consortium on the shortlist for the contract includes Babcock, BAE Systems, Cammell Laird and Rolls-Royce.
It comes after a series of inflammatory incidents involving Spanish warships encroaching on Gibraltar’s territorial waters.
The latest in this series of territorial disputes came last month, as a Spanish vessel faced off with a tiny Royal Navy boat a mile and a half off Gibraltar’s shore.
