Plymouth Sutton MP Linda Gilroy has welcomed today’s news that the Government has given the green light for the Navy’s two new aircraft carriers.

Defence Secretary Des Browne announced the Government was ready to sign the order, a move that will allow BAE Systems and Vosper Thornycroft to combine their shipbuilding assets into a joint venture.

65,000 tonne ships – to be named Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales – will be the largest ever operated by the Royal Navy.

Some contracts for equipment and materials have already been placed. Earlier this year the government ordered 80,000 tonnes of steel.

Linda Gilroy, a member of the Commons Defence Select Committee, said:  “This is excellent news for Devonport. Rosyth will be fully occupied with assembly of the carriers for the next decade and beyond” 

 “The time is now right for a meeting with Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth to discuss the surface ship support issues which flow from this and I have asked him for an early date to meet representatives from the Devonport Strategy Group which I Chair.

“There will also be one million man hours of work created at Babcock’s Appledore yard in North Devon, where one of the hull modules is to be constructed”.

• These orders are a demonstration of this Government’s unshakable commitment to the Royal Navy. The carriers will form the core of the fleet for the next fifty years.
• In addition to new aircraft carriers, the Government is currently building new destroyers (Type 45) and submarines (Astute) and planning is already underway for a new generation of auxiliaries (MARS – Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability) and frigates (Future Surface Combatant).
• In March 2008, during Linda Gilroy’s adjournment debate on the future of Devonport, Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth confirmed that Devonport could well have a role in supporting the Future Surface Combatant.

20 May 2008