Defence U-turn
14/03/2013
Less than two years ago, the UK Ministry of Defence promised that over 6,000 army personnel currently based in Germany would relocate to Scotland, with hundreds destined for Rosyth. HMS Caledonia was even renamed MoD Caledonia. Now we know none will come to west Fife and few will relocate elsewhere in Scotland.
Right at the beginning I expressed reservations about the relocation, as I feared army demand pushing out our traditional naval presence in west Fife. I shall always argue for a strong naval presence on the east coast of Scotland. We need it to guard our North Sea oil and gas industry, our fishing grounds and the sea routes to the Continent. However, this U-turn has cost Fifers an estimated £500,000 in setting up a Fife Defence Transition Task Force. The UK Government should be called to account for this. Read more of this post
Bill Walker 