Royal Navy fleet of supply ships could be built in SPAIN 'as part of £1bn Brexit bribe over Gibraltar'

  • Union warns contract for Fleet Solid Support ships could go to Spanish shipyard
  • Tim Roache, GMB general secretary, said deal is 'grubby and reeks of self-preservation'
  • A final decision regarding the winning bid will be made in 2020

Royal Navy supply vessels could be built in Spain as a result of Brexit negotiations regarding Gibraltar, union leaders say.

The GMB has raised fears that contracts worth £1billion to build the vessels could go to a naval yard in northern Spain.

The union said the contract for Fleet Solid Support ships could go to Navantia, a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company.

A contract for Fleet Solid Support ships (pictured) could go to a Spanish shipyard as a result of Brexit negotiations, according to union leaders

A contract for Fleet Solid Support ships (pictured) could go to a Spanish shipyard as a result of Brexit negotiations, according to union leaders

Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company that could win the contract for the Royal Navy supply vessels

Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company that could win the contract for the Royal Navy supply vessels

The trade union said there were rumours that the decision to give the work to Spain is linked to negotiations over the future of the British territory of Gibraltar.   

Tim Roache, general secretary of the GMB, said: 'If the contracts for these ships go abroad, the Government is basically sticking two fingers up to shipbuilding communities and the entire manufacturing industry in the UK.

'No other government would outsource national security. 

'If it is true this deal is being done because of ministers' abject failure to sort out Brexit then it's not just negligent, it's grubby and reeks of self-preservation and putting party politics ahead of people's livelihoods and communities.

Tim Roache, general secretary of the GMB, said the potential deal is 'grubby and reeks of self-preservation'

Tim Roache, general secretary of the GMB, said the potential deal is 'grubby and reeks of self-preservation'

'If this is what the Government is planning, it needs to think again.'

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'We are required by law to procure the Fleet Solid Support ships through open international competition. 

'We issued formal tender documents to bidders, including a UK consortium, in late 2018.

'The final decision regarding the winning bid will be made in 2020.'

There are believed to be five bidders to build the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels, with the Rosyth yard in Fife, Scotland, in line for work if Babcock wins the contract. 

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