A very good question from the people of Plymouth.
"LABOUR yesterday sounded the death knell for Plymouth's historic Royal Navy base despite repeated ministerial reassurances.
After centuries of Naval tradition, Plymouth â once the largest naval base in western Europe â could be left with just seven warships beyond 2016, following an announcement by the Ministry of Defence.
A hammer blow to the Navy's future in the Westcountry, it comes just two months after Defence Secretary John Hutton said there were "no clouds on the horizon as far as Devonport is concerned".
Tory MP Gary Streeter accused Mr Hutton of "misleading" the people of Devon and Cornwall over the Navy base's future prospects.
"I wouldn't trust him with a weather forecast," Mr Streeter, MP for South West Devon, said. "These are very dark clouds indeed."
He said the region could have "done without" such "over-optimistic predictions".
"I imagine John Hutton now regrets being quite so positive about Devonport because those words have a very hollow ring to them today," Mr Streeter added. "It shows me that the decision-making process has been in disarray from start to finish. Ministers didn't seem to know what was going on. I think it has been misleading and unhelpful.
"We have to work with the reality on the ground, which is Plymouth is losing and Portsmouth is gaining. The reality is Plymouth is withering on the vine."
South East Cornwall Lib-Dem MP Colin Breed said Mr Hutton's statement was "political expediency".
http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews...ID-DECEIVE/article-970691-detail/article.html
"LABOUR yesterday sounded the death knell for Plymouth's historic Royal Navy base despite repeated ministerial reassurances.
After centuries of Naval tradition, Plymouth â once the largest naval base in western Europe â could be left with just seven warships beyond 2016, following an announcement by the Ministry of Defence.
A hammer blow to the Navy's future in the Westcountry, it comes just two months after Defence Secretary John Hutton said there were "no clouds on the horizon as far as Devonport is concerned".
Tory MP Gary Streeter accused Mr Hutton of "misleading" the people of Devon and Cornwall over the Navy base's future prospects.
"I wouldn't trust him with a weather forecast," Mr Streeter, MP for South West Devon, said. "These are very dark clouds indeed."
He said the region could have "done without" such "over-optimistic predictions".
"I imagine John Hutton now regrets being quite so positive about Devonport because those words have a very hollow ring to them today," Mr Streeter added. "It shows me that the decision-making process has been in disarray from start to finish. Ministers didn't seem to know what was going on. I think it has been misleading and unhelpful.
"We have to work with the reality on the ground, which is Plymouth is losing and Portsmouth is gaining. The reality is Plymouth is withering on the vine."
South East Cornwall Lib-Dem MP Colin Breed said Mr Hutton's statement was "political expediency".
http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews...ID-DECEIVE/article-970691-detail/article.html