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Defence Procurement

I wish to speak about shipbuilding, the aircraft carrier order and how we proceed from the position that we are in at the moment. I used the opportunity earlier to intervene. I would like the Minister to come back and tell me what steps the MOD intends to take to ensure that the structure of the aircraft carrier ordering programme is devised in such a way that opportunities for subcontracting are maximised, so that local firms in the areas of the yards involved are able to participate. We do not want the subcontract blocks to be so large that local firms cannot tender for work and it therefore has to go abroad. Similarly, I hope that the Ministry of Defence will work in Scotland with local colleges and Scottish Enterprise in its various manifestations to ensure that, across the country, adequate training is provided for both adults and youngsters so that we maximise the number of people taken into employment in the shipyards and the subcontracting industries, rather than simply having imported labour. We are worried about the skills shortage in the west and east of Scotland and we do not want the jobs simply to be filled by immigrants from eastern Europe or elsewhere. The Prime Minister has spoken of British jobs for British workers; I want these jobs to go to people who are currently unemployed or under-trained, and we now have an opportunity to focus on achieving that.