Under European Union rules, the government must tender out bids for building ships unless they are specifically for military use of the nation concerned.

The rollon-rolloff ferries that are on the MOD books are for military use, but Blair and his cronies insist they are not. In this way they can let Germany build the ships at the expense of Scottish ship workers.

One Tory spokesman said : "The Government is hiding behind EU rules simply to save the Treasury £200m. We're not going to let go of this one."

Donald Dewar said "I want shipbuilding on the Clyde to have a future. The skills and the commitment of the workforce are assets which deserve that future. That is why we fought to keep Govan when Kvaerner bailed out. The Scotland Office and the Scottish Executive dug deep to back the stand taken by the workforce. There is no question of walking away now."

Brave words, now watch Labour stab the Scots in the back as they did over the Uniroyal episode...