The government have revealed that the arrival of the fourth Trident submarine has been delayed but they are keeping secret the revised date.
In reply to a question from Margaret Ewing MP, Defence Minister John Spellar said in a written answer on 16 March:
"HMS Vengeance is due to start Contractor's Sea Trials later in the year. The exact date is classified for reasons of physical security. The currently planned date is later than the original, due to the need to replace components found to be defective during system testing at the shipbuilding. The components have now been changed and the submarine's systems are performing well"
John Ainslie, Administrator, Scottish CND said:
"George Robertson wants to sneak his new billion pound Trident submarine into Scotland when no-one is looking. If he honesty thinks that the Scottish people want Vengeance then he should be telling us when it will arrive and stand proudly at the helm himself."
Another sign that work at Barrow is coming to an end is a report that 22 electrical workers at VSEL have been told that from Monday 22 March they will be working at Yarrow in Glasgow, as they are no longer required on Vengeance.