03 Feb 2010
The Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy welcomed the commitment to the future of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers following the publication of the Ministry of Defence Green Paper today.
He said: "Scotland can welcome the government's commitment to the future of the aircraft carriers being built here in Scotland.
"Earlier this week I was at Rosyth where I saw the preparations for assembling the carriers. This is a stunning engineering project. Not only will it employ thousands of workers, it should stir the heart of any Scot. Engineering is in the DNA of Scotland, and the carriers will probably be the greatest single manufacturing project in Scotland this century."
"Today's Green Paper asks key questions about what the shape of our defence capability will be in the future and the types of threat it has to face. Scotland will continue to play a central role in the defence of the UK on land, in the air and at sea.
"It will form the basis of a mature and informed debate on the future of defence in the UK ahead of the strategic defence review. There are undoubtedly tough decisions to be made as the government supports the current operations of our forces and balances those needs with our aspirations for the coming years - there is no doubt we have to be ready to meet the challenges of the conflicts of the future."
The MoD Green Paper is available here: MoD Green Paper