MoD speaks out over rumours of carrier delays

The Ministry of Defence has moved to calm fears that the navy's aircraft carrier project could be delayed.

The progress of the £3.9bn deal, signed in Portsmouth in July, has been called into question by senior sources at Govan shipyard in Scotland.

They said the credit crunch and the cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has forced the MoD to look at delaying the work, putting at risk 3,000 jobs at BVT Surface Fleet in Govan and 1,600 at Babcock Marine in Rosyth.

The massive new carriers, when finished, will be based in Portsmouth.

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