Debate over aviation jobs threat

Roseanna Cunningham wants the Ministry of Defence to "come clean"

The threat to jobs at the Dara military aircraft plant near Perth is to be debated by MSPs.

Unions fear that a third of the 350 jobs at Almondbank could be axed because the military wants to pull the plug on a major project.

Red Dragon seemed secure in February this year when the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (Dara) confirmed it would go ahead with a £77m aircraft maintenance centre at RAF Athan near Cardiff.

But a secret review by the MoD suggested that it could drop the project and repair planes at existing RAF bases.

The move would have serious implications for three other Dara sites, including one at Almondbank.

Local Scottish National Party MSP Roseanna Cunningham called for a debate on the issue.

She said the Ministry of Defence should "come clean" about the future of the plant.

Aerospace park

Ms Cunningham said any job cuts would have a huge impact on the local economy and be a big loss to Scotland as a whole.

Dara, which employs 4,000, was set up in 1999 as one of the government's high-profile public-private partnerships.

Project Red Dragon included the building of the aerospace industry park at St Athan, featuring a "super-hanger" which would have 47 bays to allow work on military fast jets.

It was hoped that, once underpinned by the MoD contracts, civil aviation companies and other aviation businesses would use the services at St Athan, potentially creating further jobs.