Richard Baker

Thank you for chairing this excellent debate so skilfully, Ms Jardine. I thank Members from across the House for their informed and important contributions. There has been great consensus about the exciting prospects for shipbuilding and shipyards in this country. There is the potential to invest in skills to ensure that they and the workforce are retained in our local communities, so we must build training and apprenticeship opportunities for our young people. That commitment has been reflected by the actions the Government have taken, including the intervention to save Harland and Wolff and our investment plans to ensure shipyards have a great role in the future. I could not agree more with the points that hon. Members made about the need to invest in shipbuilding in Scotland. I would say that as an MP for a Scottish constituency. Saving the Methil yard was absolutely essential for me. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) said that Clyde-built ships are synonymous with quality and reputation. We have that aspiration for shipbuilding right across the UK. Those qualities are represented by so many shipyards across our constituencies. That is why we should be passionate and confident about the future of our shipyards, and invest in them. It is hugely regrettable that the Scottish Government in the past few months and years have not shown that commitment, or evidence of support, but this Labour Government, in their first months in office, have done so. We have been through the experience of Harland and Wolff, which the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) knows well. He spoke passionately about how it affects his constituents; it is so important to have a Northern Irish voice in this debate. I recall all too well what the Government inherited. Regrettably, the previous Government had done nothing for over a year to save those yards. The prospect of investing in the company as it was then was not realistic, and would only have threatened the yards further in the future. What came forward was a clear strategy that succeeded in saving the yards. I take onboard fully the fact that there has been consensus across the Chamber that we want to invest in shipbuilding and shipyards; the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) shared in that. The Government’s ambitions for shipbuilding and our shipyards are clearly shared across the Chamber. The Liberal Democrat spokesperson, and my erstwhile University Challenge teammate, the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone), spoke very well about that, drawing on his professional as well as his political background. The ambition set out across the Chamber for our shipyards in renewables and defence is very clear. It is an opportunity for us to grasp. The Government have made an excellent start, and indicated a clear plan for a bright future for our shipyards. I am pleased that the debate has reflected the commitment across the Chamber, from all the parties who were represented, to that ambition for our shipyards and our country. Apprentices, both female and male, will be looking forward to a long and bright future in our shipyards. I think we will all support that over the course of this Parliament. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the role of shipyards in economic growth.