Theresa May hailed news of the sale of British anti submarine ships to the Australian navy, saying it is the 'perfect illustration' of the deals Brexit Britain will be striking. She said: 'The sheer scale and nature of this contract puts the UK at the very forefront of maritime design and engineering and demonstrates what can be achieved by UK industry and Government working hand-in-hand. 'We have always been clear that as we leave the EU we have an opportunity to build on our close relationships with allies like Australia. This deal is a perfect illustration that the Government is doing exactly that. 'And while this is an enormous boost for the UK economy, it will also cement our strategic partnership with one of our oldest and closest friends for decades to come.' What she fails to mention and which is tucked away in the small print of the glowing media coverage is the following: BAE's Australian arm said the construction of the ships locally would make a significant contribution to Australia's economy "creating thousands of jobs, supporting new industries and boosting the national supply chain for decades to come". The deal will create thousands of jobs, significant contribution to the economy, boost supply chain. IN AUSTRALIA ! ! The Hunter class ships will be built in Adelaide, South Australia, by government-owned ASC Shipbuilding and the programme is expected to create at least 5,000 local jobs across about 30 years. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: 'The frigates, to be designed by BAE Systems and built by ASC Shipbuilding, are central to our plan to secure our nation, our naval shipbuilding sovereignty and create Australian jobs. 5000 jobs, highly skilled, well paid jobs lasting for decades as the ships are built and maintained over their lifetime. IN AUSTRALIA ! ! Gary Cook of the GMB union criticised the deal, saying: "The inconvenient truth is that we're not exporting ships, only manufacturing jobs that should be going to British shipbuilding communities. "And had the UK government and BAE invested in the promised frigate factory at Scotstoun, those frigates could easily be built here. "Instead, there is a rubble pile where that factory should be, while 4,000 jobs and significant prosperity will be enjoyed in Australia and not the UK." ^^^ What he said. "Orders from other navies used to mean manufacturing at UK yards.But now, other countries want to get the economic benefit of their military spending, so they insist on building themselves. The hull can be the relatively cheap bit of building a complex warship, so there may be benefits to British arms exporters in selling weapons systems that fit into the Australian frigates." But ! Between 65 percent and 70 percent of industrial content will be sourced from Australian businesses with more than 500 local companies identified for the supply chain. So not a lot left for UK companies to secure those export deals and that's right now, before those post Brexit Tariffs kick in, whatever they will be. Furthermore: The ship is basically the new British Type 26 anti Submarine Frigate which is coming into service with the Royal Navy in 2021, 2023, maybe mid 2020s, definitely by 2025. This ship has so far had approx £2 billion spent on the design and testing and apparently for some components though the MoD and government are doing their usual job of making it as difficult as possible to find out how much has actually been spent since the announcement of the first ships declared a number of items which should have been paid for in the initial £2 billion but which were also included in the £3.7 billion deal announced last year. So a ship, designed, developed, tested and prototype at the expense of the British government, which is to say tax payers money is being sold to Australia in a deal which doesn't actually seem to benefit the UK much if at all. BAE systems will do very nicely thank you, the deal includes the fact that the Australian company building the ships will become a full BAE subsidiary for the length of the deal (so BAE profits massively from selling designs the UK paid for, to a BAE company, to build ships for the Australians using an Australian company that is in effect being rented cheap by BAE). BAE shareholders will be popping champagne corks for this one, it's mostly owned by US shareholders and financial bodies, particularly Capital Group. If that name seems familiar it's because it's been in the news a number of times, or more correctly one of it's senior people has, Mr Philip May, husband of the Maybot. In addition to making a very nice profit out of this deal and all those arms deals BAE has secured in (or dropped on) the middle east as a result of US / UK policies they are also significant shareholders of the US company that makes many of the missiles and bombs the US are dropping in the middle east. But I'm sure that's just a coincidence. ^^^ Yes that is bloody SARCASM ! ! So what we have here is a ship that has so far apparently cost the UK taxpayers £5.7 billion and which we may actually see floating at some point next decade, being sold by BAE to Australia in a deal which is worth a potential £20 Billion. Said ships to be built in Australia, by an Australia company that will be owned by BAE for the deal, creating thousands of lifetime jobs in Australia, creating tens of thousands of supply chain jobs in Australia, keeping Australian shipyards alive for decades, developing and maintaining valuable skills and workers in Australia. BAE sell the designs and make a profit, BAE build the ships and make a profit, Australia gets the ships and fully trained highly experienced workers who will continue to improve Australian ship building for decades to come. And the UK, who paid for the design, what do they get? You heard it here folks, from Mays own lips, a perfect illustration of the deals Britain will be striking post Brexit, thousands of jobs overseas and big corporate profit for the design team in the UK while the tax payers get nothing. |
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