Hopes have been raised that the lucrative aircraft carrier contracts will be honoured by the UK Government, despite anxieties voiced by opposition politicians and unions.
The strategic defence review is set to be announced tomorrow, when the fate of workers at both Rosyth and Faslane will be known.
However, Chancellor George Osborne gave an indication on Sunday that work on the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will be safeguarded, mainly due to the overriding cost involved in cancelling the deals.
It is understood that a penalty clause attached to cancellation of one of the carriers would push the bill up to £5.7 billion.
The budget for the Ministry of Defence has been finalised as part of Mr Osborne’s spending review this week.
Yesterday he told Andrew Marr on the BBC that the final decision on what will happen to the aircraft carriers has been one of the most difficult he has faced.
“We were signed up to a contract we couldn’t get out of,” he said. “It was not obvious what planes will fly off these things as they are being built.
“It will literally cost us… more to cancel the things than to go ahead and build them.”
Mr Osborne was asked if the carriers would only have helicopters on board because the F35 Joint Strike Fighters are not due to be ready until 2018.
He said, “They will be what we want them to be vehicles for projecting British power abroad. They will be aircraft carriers and they will live up to their name.”
The chancellor’s comments have been welcomed in Fife.
Former MP for Dunfermline and West Fife Willie Rennie said, “The indications are that the government will proceed with the two aircraft carriers. It looks like, despite the shambolic state of the government finances left by Labour, the coalition have made the right call.
“The carriers will be good for Rosyth and good for the defence of the UK. The challenge now is to develop a long-term plan for the future of the Rosyth yard to fully utilise the skills of the workforce.”
Councillor Gerry McMullan said, “As the West Fife councillor, I supported Willie Rennie for the motion at last week’s Liberal Democrat conference in Dunfermline. We both said it was imperative that the carriers were built here in Rosyth and on the Clyde.
“I mentioned that government ministers from the Lib Dems had better takes this message loud and clear from this conference.”