BAE Systems’ Type 26 frigates, the pride of the Royal Navy, will be built under a Glasgow sky and also now sail under the Norwegian flag after one of the biggest export deals in British history.
For a city like ours, long scarred by deindustrialisation, this isn’t just another contract: it is proof that Glasgow and Scotland can still build, still lead, and still matter on the world stage thanks to the skills, tradition and determination of our workers on the Clyde – combined with the support of the UK Labour Government.
The work secured at Govan and Scotstoun will stretch well into the 2030s.
Thousands of jobs are safeguarded, as well as hundreds of apprenticeships; whilst the recent opening of the state-of-the-art £200 million hall at Govan shows the yards are finally getting the modern facilities they deserve to protect them for the future.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar was right to say: “This is another huge boost for shipbuilding jobs on the Clyde – delivered by a Labour Government.
“Labour will always stand up for the security of our country and our Nato allies.
“That means protecting our country and delivering real investment and jobs in Glasgow and across Scotland.”
However, whilst the UK Labour Government is delivering for the Clyde, the SNP has promised the earth on industrial renewal but delivered precious little.
Apart from the radio silence from First Minister John Swinney when the recent deal broke, SNP Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop is spending more time celebrating ferries built in Turkey than delivering for the Clyde.
As ever, the SNP Government talks a good game but is lacking when it comes to delivery.
Scottish Labour MSP Michael Marra was right to highlight how the Scottish Government has 100 ongoing live ‘strategies’ with no plan to deliver them, saying: “Only the SNP could have 100 strategies and no plan.
“Their ministers have created a sprawling web of bureaucracy in a desperate bid to look busy.
“But things on the ground just keep getting worse.”
And the people of Glasgow and Scotland know this to be true.
By contrast, the UK Government has put its money where its mouth is.
Billions of pounds have flowed into Scotland’s yards from the Ministry of Defence.
Add £66 million for new West of Scotland transport links, £200 million for the Acorn carbon capture project, and Scotland’s economy will be boosted by a pioneering Defence Growth Deal – backed as part of a £250 million UK-wide investment – to improve collaboration, foster innovation and create jobs — and you begin to see a UK Labour Government that at least grasps the value of industry to jobs and communities.
And let’s be clear — this isn’t just about shipbuilding.
Glasgow has quietly become Europe’s leader in small satellites.
Edinburgh is set to host the UK’s next supercomputer, with up to £750 million committed.
From shipbuilding to space, from digital to defence, Glasgow and Scotland have the appetite and the skills.
The lesson of the Clyde is simple: when strategy meets delivery, Scotland and Glasgow thrive.
When politics dissolves into endless promises and no action, we drift.
The frigates on the Clyde are not just steel and rivets — they are symbols of what can still be achieved when our industry is backed, not neglected.
It’s time the Scottish Government learned that lesson.