That this House has considered the role of shipyards in economic growth.
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I thank all hon. Members for attending the debate, because shipyards and shipbuilding are iconic symbols of the industrial heritage of the United Kingdom. From the Belfast poetry of Carnduff and the folk songs of England, from the north-east to the south-west, to the words of Donald Dewar at the opening session of the re-established Scottish Parliament, evoking:
“The shout of the welder in the din of the great Clyde shipyards”,
they are part of the economic and social history of these islands.
Our shipyards and the industry and creativity of their skilled workers have been sources of pride for local communities that have too often felt a keen sense of loss whenever a shipyard closed, as many did in the course of the previous century. When I was elected in July, the threat of closure for the Methil yard in my constituency was very real. After three centuries of the yard being the beating heart of the local economy, it was clear within days of this Government taking office that Harland and Wolff, seen as the saviour of the yard after the collapse of previous owners BiFab in 2021, was itself in dire financial difficulties.
That was a hugely anxious time, not only for Methil but for other Harland and Wolff yards in Belfast, Appledore and Arnish, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Torcuil Crichton), with whom I shared many challenging meetings on the prospects for the yards. Those were times of stress and worry for the future for all workers at each of the four yards. It was essential that, where the previous Government had not acted, this Minister and her colleagues took decisive action to save the yards. Many of us were relentless in making the case for the four yards, because not only their facilities but the skills and commitment of their workforces are essential for our mission for economic growth.
I want to pay tribute to the workers at the yards and their unions, Unite and GMB, who fought for their future. In particular, I thank the union representatives at Methil yard, Dougie Somerville of Unite and George McClelland of GMB, who worked alongside the yard’s manager Matt Smith to make the case for the yard to be saved. George started working at Methil in 1973, which is even before I was born. His commitment to the yard has been amazing, and it has paid off.
I recognise it was no easy process to secure a deal for Navantia UK to take on all four yards. The Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister for Industry had to go to great lengths to secure a deal. For the Scottish yards, an important advocacy role was played by the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar. I was also pleased that there was positive dialogue between UK and Scottish Ministers on the future of the Scottish yards. I hope that spirit of collaboration continues, working together to promote the facilities at the yards.
It was deeply dispiriting to see yesterday’s announcement that the £175 million contract for seven loch-class vessels to serve our island communities had not been awarded to a Scottish yard but has gone abroad. That is highly disappointing for the shipbuilding industry in Scotland. It is a great concern for Ferguson Marine in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West (Martin McCluskey). SNP Ministers simply have to show more ambition for Scotland’s shipyards.
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine, and I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for raising this subject and particularly for referring to the workforce at Ferguson Marine, who have lost out on that small vessel replacement programme, sending 170 jobs down the Swanee. Those workers were political pawns in a nationalist game, which I guess came to its peak when the First Minister launched a ship with painted-on portholes.
All is not lost because it was only phase one of the small vessel replacement programme that went to Poland this week. There is a phase two, which would provide vessels for my constituency: two ferries for the Western Isles and one for Iona. Surely the answer that the Scottish Government should seek to find is that phase two be rolled into phase one and that a direct award be made to Ferguson’s shipyard on the Clyde, which has experience of building those small vessels. We can save jobs, we can deliver the ferries and we can serve the people of the Western Isles by making a direct award.
I could not agree more with my hon. Friend who, as always, is a doughty campaigner for his constituents. He has also put forward very practical proposals that offer a real way forward to ensure that those vessels are built by Scottish shipyards. We should all be working together to fight for the future of Scotland’s shipyards, so it is a matter of regret, particularly after the announcement yesterday, that we have no Members from the Scottish National party in Westminster Hall for this debate.
The sad news yesterday was in stark contrast to the day of excitement and celebration when the Minister for Industry, who is here today, visited Methil to mark the formal handover of the yard to Navantia UK. Let us hope that in the future we will have joint working and effective collaboration between UK Ministers and Scottish Ministers, and that Scottish Ministers show some ambition for future investment in and contracts for shipyards in Scotland.
Let us be clear that saving the yards is not an act of charity to their workers or the communities they support. The reason it is so important to save these yards is that they have an essential strategic role in promoting economic growth in this country. In 2024, the economic output of our shipyards was £2.7 billion. Between 2019 and 2024, the economic output of the sector increased by 72%, at a time when the overall value of the manufacturing sector declined by 2.4%.
Today, there is so much potential for our shipyards to play an even greater role in growing our economy. The national shipbuilding strategy had already set out plans to deliver a pipeline of more than 150 new naval and civil vessels for the UK Government and the devolved Administrations over the next 30 years. Ports are now one of the five key sectors earmarked for £5.8 billion of investment through the National Wealth Fund. Those plans for investment are all the more important today, as the budget for defence spending increases to enable the UK to fulfil our responsibilities to Ukraine and in other arenas.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine, and I draw attention to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and my membership of the GMB and Unite trade unions.
I thank my hon. Friend for his words about the workers at Arnish and I know that he has played a very important role in advocating for that yard. He talked about the national shipbuilding strategy and defence orders. Historically, all Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary orders were fulfilled by UK shipyards. That changed in 2012 when the MARS tanker order was awarded to Daewoo in South Korea. Subsequently, the 2017 national shipbuilding strategy made it an assumption that all such defence orders would be put out to international tender, bar some exclusions. Does he agree that that has been a source of real uncertainty in a sector that needs long-term planning, and that in future any industrial strategy should provide maximum assurance about the pipeline of orders for our domestic shipbuilding yards?
My hon. Friend makes an extremely important and very eloquently argued point. We need to have such security for our shipbuilders and our shipyards, and our procurement strategy must support that agenda. Later, I will say more about how the ambitions about the security of future work at our shipyards that he has just set out can be realised.
It is our shipyards and our shipyard workers who will be crucial in developing our new defence capabilities, including the more than 350 skilled workers from my constituency who work at Babcock in Rosyth, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie). It is not only in defence that our shipyards have a key role to play in economic growth, but in renewables as well. It is right that Labour’s green prosperity plan highlighted the role of ports in growing our renewable sector.
Navantia’s plan for Methil is that it will become the business’s centre of excellence for offshore wind manufacturing in the UK through Navantia Seanergies, its specialist renewable energy division. Navantia has announced plans to modernise both Methil and Arnish, with advanced fabrication and assembly capabilities, aligning with national commitments to secure domestic energy security while meeting our ambitious energy transition targets. I believe it would make great sense to extend the Forth green freeport area to include Methil and, in doing so, provide important incentives for that vital work.
In addition to yards being centres for renewables infrastructure, the transition towards low-emission ships and sustainable materials presents opportunities for innovation and leadership in environmentally friendly maritime technology. Green shipbuilding can be incentivised through Government procurement, and with the current scale of procurement in shipbuilding, there is also a role for the Government to encourage collaboration between naval shipbuilders, rather than running competitive tenders for each project. Most of all, the huge potential for growth in shipbuilding and fabrication in this country can only be achieved by investing in skills.
Order. I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called in the debate and, if possible, keep to an informal five-minute time limit to allow everyone to get in. I call Edward Morello.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the hon. Member for Glenrothes and Mid Fife (Richard Baker) on securing this debate.
Dorset does not enjoy the kind of large shipyards that the hon. Member outlined, but the marine industry is vital to Dorset’s economy. It generates £483 million in gross value added and supports more than 8,000 jobs. Importantly, 71% of those jobs are in boatbuilding, reinforcing the sector’s importance to the region. Local shipyards and boatbuilders provide high-quality, skilled employment in coastal communities; they offer well-paid jobs in areas where such opportunities are often limited.
However, the industry is at a crossroads. The shortage of skilled workers in the area is now the single greatest barrier to growth. We must do more to attract and retain talent in the sector. One key opportunity lies in supporting women in boatbuilding. Historically, women have been under-represented in this industry. It estimates that only 2% to 5% of hands-on yard workers are women. However, initiatives such as Women in Boatbuilding are changing this. Women in Boatbuilding has played a transformative role, particularly in Lyme Regis, where it has helped the Boat Building Academy, which I recently had the pleasure of visiting, to achieve a 50:50 gender split on its flagship boatbuilding course. Women in Boatbuilding not only promotes diversity, but drives economic growth. By making shipyards and boatyards more inclusive, we widen the talent pipeline, ensuring the industry’s long-term sustainability. With the right support, more women will enter the profession, leading to greater innovation, a stronger workforce and a more resilient industry.
Supporting new talent is vital, but we must also protect the heritage of traditional boatbuilding. The National Shipbuilding Office recognises that the leisure sector accounts for 14% of the UK’s shipbuilding industry, yet traditional boatbuilding is being neglected. In 2023, traditional wooden boat building was added to the Heritage Crafts Association’s red list of endangered crafts, highlighting the urgent need for action. Without intervention, we risk losing centuries-old skills that have built and maintained iconic vessels—from Dunkirk’s little ships to HMS Victory. These crafts not only preserve our maritime history, but contribute to our economy.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Glenrothes and Mid Fife (Richard Baker) on securing this important debate. He spoke very knowledgeably about the topic, and his incredibly successful work to secure the future of the Harland and Wolff yard in Methil demonstrates what a conscientious, hard-working fighter for his community he is. I am proud to call him my friend.
Shipbuilding is a growth industry. Between 2019 and 2024, the economic output of the shipyard sector in the UK increased by 72%—I wish we could say that about much more of the British economy. There are almost 39,000 employee jobs in that industry in the UK, with 19% in Scotland, so it is an industry that we must get behind. It is central to Glasgow and the Clyde region. As everyone knows, Glasgow has a proud history of shipbuilding. At one point, more than 100,000 people were working in 38 yards along the Clyde; at the turn of the last century, almost one in four boats sailing in the world was built on the Clyde, so shipbuilding is in Glasgow’s blood. The number is much lower now, but like any Glasgow MP, I have constituents who depend on the shipyards on the Clyde for work, and they make a significant contribution to Glasgow’s economy.
We have world-class defence shipyards. We have two shipyards on the upper Clyde and they are operated by BAE Systems. They have a long history of developing first-class ships for defending the United Kingdom, and the new Type 26 frigates at the dockyards will do the same. This creates wealth across Glasgow, including in my seat. We also have a brilliant maritime education sector in Glasgow, and much of this is in my seat, on the Clyde. City of Glasgow college, trains craft apprentices for the BAE Govan and Scotstoun shipyards, and BAE has a brilliant on-site skills academy. City of Glasgow college also trains very many merchant navy officers in the UK, and many of those involved live in my seat, including in the Gorbals, as I find regularly when I knock on doors.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. It seems to be a regular occurrence in Westminster Hall now. I wish you well and thank you for all you do.
I thank the hon. Member for Glenrothes and Mid Fife (Richard Baker) for leading the debate. I am very pleased to be here. He mentioned Harland and Wolff, which I will talk about as it obviously plays a critical role in Northern Ireland. For the record, the Minister has played a significant role, along with others, in ensuring that its future is a lot rosier than we thought it would be. We were worried about its future, but the Minister and others have ensured that it looks much brighter.
Shipbuilding has been crucial for the UK for decades. It generates hundreds of thousands of jobs and improves infrastructure between mainland Britain and the devolved institutions. I am honoured and pleased to be here to showcase the success of our fantastic shipbuilding sector. Gone are the days when Harland and Wolff employed almost 30,000 people in Belfast. It is down to about 1,000 or 1,500, but it hopes to grow to 2,000, 2,500 or maybe even more.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Northern Ireland paved the way in shipbuilding. Some of the world’s most iconic ships were built at the heart of Harland and Wolff in Belfast. Everyone knows of the famous Titanic, probably for the wrong reasons—the tragedy in which all those people lost their lives—but there were also the RMS Britannic and the RMS Olympic. At the time Harland and Wolff, in the neighbouring constituency of Belfast East, represented by my right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson), was one of the largest, most famous shipbuilding companies in the world. We are proud of that rich history.
I am proud to be able to speak about what Harland and Wolff has done in Northern Ireland and the jobs it has created. The tradition of shipbuilding, although not as big as it was, is still significant within Harland and Wolff across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
I think the hon. Member might be recalling my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie), who is at this moment at the Rosyth port meeting Babcock. His passion for his community and for that yard is, as the hon. Member knows, very strong.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for filling in that gap. Hansard will pick up on the constituency and keep it right. The only reason the hon. Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) is not here is because he is away doing something very practical in his own constituency, so well done to him.
We must continue to prioritise shipbuilding for the future, so I look to the Minister for the commitment that I know is already there. Just for the record, it is always good to have the reassurance that we all seek. There are steps that the Government can take to provide direct financial support to the shipbuilding sector, both centrally on the mainland and regionally to the devolved nations. Infrastructure development is massively important for the United Kingdom, from our safety right through to the food in our supermarkets. I am old enough to remember things that we used to say in my history class: we are an island built on coal, surrounded by waters full of fish. I am not sure whether that is true any more, but it tells us that the role of ships in connecting our islands is very important.
The history goes back centuries and is something to be proud of. In Northern Ireland it is always great to look back and recollect the successes of our past and still be grateful to this day that shipbuilding is as important as ever, despite being under the control of different companies. It still creates jobs, wage packets and opportunities and helps us grow as a nation.
I will conclude with this. I look to the Minister for her commitment to the industry and to the staff that will ensure it continues for the future. I am pleased to see the Minister, who has shown commitment, in her place. In all the things that I have brought to her attention, I have never once found her wanting, and I am sure we will not find her wanting this time, either.
It is a privilege to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glenrothes and Mid Fife (Richard Baker) for securing this debate on this very important topic. In Scotland the ferry fleet is years old and replacements have not been ordered in a timely way, which has caused chaos and difficulties for many of those in island and mainland communities. Now more than ever, we need a robust ferry replacement programme to ensure that our island communities are fully connected to the mainland. This debate provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of a UK shipbuilding industry.
Take my constituency of North Ayrshire and Arran and the impact that the lack of an effective ferry replacement strategy has had on our local communities, especially the island communities. Two state-of-the-art ferries were commissioned by the Scottish SNP Government for routes to the Isle of Arran. However, that was not what the community really needed or wanted. What we actually needed were smaller ferries that fit in the existing port at Ardrossan harbour, not new and expensive ships. We needed ferries that were built locally and which could provide a reliable and much-needed service, rather than the stop-start one we have at the moment. That is due to myriad issues, too many to mention in this debate. One of the new ferries is the one that had the painted windows seven years ago, which I will speak about in a moment.
The ferries were originally commissioned in 2015 and were scheduled to be ready for service in 2018. Glen Sannox has only entered service this year, 2025, and has already been recalled due to faults. Glen Rosa is due to be ready for September 2025—seven years too late for the people of Ardrossan and Arran. Had there been a planned, sustainable order procurement process we would not be in the position we are in Scotland. When planning for future projects, the Scottish Government need to prevent the Ardrossan harbour situation from ever happening again. That should be done through robust and thorough planning.
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We have an ageing workforce in our shipyards, but the prospects today for young people joining the industry are bright. That makes it all the more important that we recruit and train young people in the skills our shipyards need. In Methil, there are plans for comprehensive training programmes, including on-site training at Navantia’s Spanish facilities—when I talked to apprentices on a cold day in Methil, they were right behind those plans—which demonstrate Navantia’s commitment to developing a highly skilled local workforce. It is important that the UK Government, devolved Governments and local skill agencies support that vital work.
One of the moments after the Methil yard was saved I found most rewarding was when Neil Cafferky, an apprentice draughtsman at Methil, had the opportunity to tell the Prime Minister what it meant for him that he would be able to continue his apprenticeship at Methil. Neil studied at Fife College and New College Lanarkshire before beginning his apprenticeship at the yard in 2021. That journey of skills and training has been amazing for Neil, because in 2022, Neil was a finalist in the Scottish Renewables young professionals green energy awards.
Neil is not alone in having a bright future at Methil. Of the 200 workers whose jobs at the yard were saved, 51 are apprentices. They are among thousands in the shipyards across our country. Investing in our shipyards means thousands of young people having the prospect of skilled, well-paid jobs throughout their career, with all the benefits that will bring to them, their communities and their country.
The actions taken by Ministers early in this Government show that they understand the importance of our shipyards in growing our economy. If we seize all the fantastic opportunities we have to grow our shipyards and boost the brilliant, highly skilled workforces that they employ, the story of shipyards in this country is not only one of a proud history, but of a vibrant future as well.
The solution is clear: we need central support and funding dedicated to preserving traditional boatbuilding skills. Without that, apprenticeships remain inaccessible outside the south-west, skilled labour shortages will worsen and our internationally admired shipyards will struggle to compete. Dorset has a proud maritime heritage and a thriving marine industry, but it needs investment, skills development and a commitment to inclusivity to ensure its future success. We have the talent, expertise and global reputation. Now we must ensure that this industry has the resources to grow, to innovate and to inspire the next generation of boatbuilders. Let us invest in our shipyards, our workforce and our maritime heritage before it is too late.
We need to keep warship building work in the UK. Make no mistake: this is essential for national security. We may wish for the world to be different, but we have to take it as it is. Skills in military and domestic shipyards are very important as we face this unpredictable world.
Civilian shipyards could also provide great opportunities in Glasgow, such as in renewable energy. Of course I would like to see Government support for shipbuilding, but it has to be deployed wisely. Taxpayers and the wider economy expect that money to be deployed wisely. Regretfully, that has not been the case with the SNP Government, who own the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, just along from my constituency. They have spent more than £500 million on two ferries, which are hundreds of millions of pounds over budget. They nationalised the yard in 2019, but despite it being state-owned, Audit Scotland in December 2024 raised very serious concerns about governance at the yard. It said:
“Internal audit has not been able to provide assurance on FMPG’s risk management, control and governance arrangements”
and other matters.
Yesterday, we learned that Ferguson Marine had lost out to a shipyard in Gdańsk on a £175 million contract to build vessels for the Scottish Government. My hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West (Martin McCluskey) is entirely correct that the Scottish Government have prioritised opportunities in Poland over those in Port Glasgow. The outcome of six years of SNP control of that shipyard is hundreds of millions of pounds wasted; it is an absolute scandal.
The SNP Government have failed the people of Port Glasgow—some of the most deprived communities in our family of nations—while wasting hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. Port Glasgow desperately needs good jobs, as does the whole of the Clyde region and Glasgow, and we should be incredibly angry at that SNP scandal. That is another SNP Government failure: they have failed Glasgow and the Clyde region on shipbuilding, education, health, transport and economic growth. After 18 years of the SNP, Scottish shipbuilding and Scotland need a new direction.
Northern Ireland is and was a global hub for shipbuilding. The sector employs hundreds even today, so it is important that we protect and preserve it, and retain people and give them opportunities. We want to protect and retain shipbuilding skills, including metalworking and engineering.
We are rich in shipbuilding culture for many reasons, including defence, global trade, imports, exports, design and engineering—the hon. Member for Glenrothes and Mid Fife mentioned that in his introduction. In September 2024, Harland and Wolff entered administration for the second time in five years. In January 2025, with the help of Ministers and others, it was announced that the Spanish-owned firm Navantia was to take over ownership, maintaining the core roots of the historic shipyard in Belfast and elsewhere in this United Kingdom.
Maintaining jobs is at the core of any administrative takeover. Many employees who worked in Harland and Wolff before the takeover lived in my constituency and still do. I remember the tradition of shipbuilding even in the small village of Greyabbey, which I lived just outside of. The number of people who worked in the shipyards in the 1960s and ’70s and even in the ’80s was significant, as it was in Newtownards. Like some of those people, employees today are fearful of job losses and redundancy. The Minister has also been involved—for which I thank him—in the Spirit/Airbus takeover. Employees are not in control of which sectors are bought, which poses a massive question mark to their livelihoods, and indeed their futures.
Shipbuilding contributes billions of pounds to the United Kingdom economy, both centrally and through devolution. We continue to export and repair ships and we have a part of the defence contract as well, which we are very proud to have. It massively contributes to the value of our trade and goods. Furthermore, some 36,000 people are employed in our wonderful Royal Navy. Shipbuilding is imperative for our defence capabilities, from defending our overseas territories to protecting our sea trade routes. Without the shipbuilding sector and the staff and people that have made it what it is, success would not be possible. Warships and submarines are built in other areas across the nation, including areas in England and Scotland and in the constituency of the hon. Member for Glenrothes and Mid Fife, who introduced the debate. I am surprised that his colleague, whose constituency I cannot remember, is not here. He has always been very much to the fore in naval debates. I expected him to be here to wax lyrical about what he would do. I can remember his name but not his constituency.
Ardrossan’s economy has for many years relied on the harbour. The Isle of Arran is becoming isolated, suffering economically from a lack of tourism as sailings have been greatly reduced. Residents suffer as they cannot access essential services on the mainline, such as hospital appointments—so this is serious. We are now in the position where we might lose the port of Ardrossan because a ship has been built that cannot fit in the harbour. That will severely affect the local economy of Ardrossan and Arran and that of the surrounding area.
As we heard earlier, the recent procurement process to build seven new small electric ferries has awarded the contract to a non-UK bidder. It is a real pity to see the local nationalised shipyard Ferguson Marine, which has a track record of building smaller vessels on time and in budget, miss out on new contracts such as this.
I would like to finish by highlighting the importance of shipbuilding to national strategy. UK shipyards play a key role in our defence, as the Royal Navy depends on them for the construction and maintenance of their vessels. Given that we are increasing the defence budget to 2.5%, I think we can all agree that it is time to revisit and reinvigorate this overlooked industry.