[Tomvart]

I agree with the points you have made David, all valid, however if anyone in Government had followed up on any of the recommendations in Sir John Parkers National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSbS) published just a couple of years ago, we wouldn't be in this dire situation we are today (incidentally he was an apprentice and in the design team at H&W in the 60's and has a wealth of shipyard and manufacturing experience - unlike many of the goons holding political power and influence at the moment).

As the report states...."The sorry state of the industry rather makes a mockery of the central premise of the NSbS that would see work distributed across the UK and sustained by a drumbeat of orders and exports"

The NSbS was received by those in the industry with acclaim and much hope, however - as is normally the case, his carefully thought out strategy for the future of shipbuilding in the UK has been sidelined by those in power, I can only assume because it would need cash investment and some serious long term strategic planning on behalf of HMG, instead of the reactive short term stuff that currently occurs.

Your last point (importing labour similar to the NHS) is also quite pertinent to this situation - many of the welders here in Camel Lairds have come over from the EU, a similar situation also exists at BAE in Scotland - who would have thought that we would have needed to import welders in order to manufacture a very small selection of ships!