A cross party campaign to speed up the removal of redundant nuclear subs is gathering pace.
Seven redundant subs currently sit in Rosyth dockyard, part of Dunfermline and West Fife SNP MP Douglas Chapman’s constituency.
More are stored at Devonport on the south coast of England and collectively their storage is costing British taxpayers £30 million a year, according to a recent report by the Westminster public accounts committee.
Mr Chapman has been working with Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Labour MP Luke Pollard as the two MPs who have old subs sitting in their respective backyards.
They in turn have been working with Conservative MP Anne Marie Trevelyan in a bid to safely speed up the removal of the eyesores from both yards.
Following a fact finding visit to Devonport, Mr Chapman said: “It was interesting to see how this issue is affecting other areas of the UK and how we can work together to relieve dockyards of this burden.
“Devonport is similar to Rosyth in that it has incredibly talented people who should be utilised to their highest capacity in starting the work to dismantle these submarines.
“Keeping these boats sitting idle in water and not dealing with their nuclear legacy in a planned and well funded way is disgraceful.
“Both through our campaign and the public accounts committee, of which I am a member, we need to see real progress and political pressure will continue to be applied.”
He added he was pleased with the cross-party support for the campaign.
“It is encouraging that work has already started in Rosyth with the dismantling of Swiftsure, but this needs to be reflected across the country and needs to also start in ports like Devonport as well as Rosyth.”
