The military link up between Glasgow and Norway to build ships in Govan is probably the best piece of industrial news Scotland has had in decades, says Herald columnist Brian Wilson

The decision by the Norwegian government to enter a strategic relationship with the UK which will, among much else, secure 2000 jobs on the Clyde, is probably the best piece of industrial news Scotland has had in decades.

There is a certain circularity to the fact that it is a Norwegian connection which will consolidate the position of Govan and Scotstoun yards for another generation. In 1988, it was the Norwegian company Kvaerner which saved Govan from the near certainty of closure at a time of wider industrial carnage.

Over the following decade, Kvaerner invested heavily in the yard and did their best to make it succeed. Finally, the company decided to pull out of shipbuilding altogether and an early crisis lay at the door of the Labour government and latterly also of the newly formed Scottish Executive.

A heroic amount of work and commitment, involving both Edinburgh and Whitehall, went into finding a solution which eventually lay in Clydeport agreeing to acquire the yard and then leasing it to BAe Systems which was itself in the process of being formed through a merger of British Aerospace and Marconi.

The fate of Govan was a sufficiently high profile consideration to hasten approval of that process. It was a high-wire political exercise which could have gone wrong on a number of fronts. Fortunately, the pieces fell into place and the story of BAe Systems on the Clyde has been one of pretty much uninterrupted growth and success. This week’s news must be seen as a pinnacle.

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