Defence secretary makes clear new frigate will be built on the Clyde after First Sea Lord suggests contract could go abroad

The Defence secretary, Michael Fallon, has moved to defuse a damaging row over thousands of Scottish defence jobs by contradicting the head of the Royal Navy, Sir George Zambellas.

Zambellas, the First Sea Lord, told a US defence magazine that the Royal Navy was considering placing a major £4bn contract to build a new generation of frigates abroad, only months after Fallon had promised that work to Clyde shipyards in Glasgow.

The pledge to build the 13 new Type 26 frigates on the Clyde to safeguard Glasgow’s last remaining shipyards was central to the UK government’s campaign against independence. Seen as a crucial part of the union dividend, it was endorsed repeatedly by Fallon and his predecessor, Phillip Hammond, on national security grounds.

But Zambellas told Defense News that he had not ruled out a partnership with the French and Italian navies on their new FREMM frigate, leading to charges of duplicity from Angus Robertson, the Scottish National party’s defence spokesman.

After making clear he was looking beyond British shipbuilders, Zambellas said: “My line has always been, I don’t choose the solution. I choose the requirement based on our professional judgment.”

But an MoD spokeswoman said the ministry’s policy was fixed and had not changed. “As the Defence Secretary has made very clear, complex UK warships are only built in UK shipyards and we have no plans to change this,” she said.

“And while this contract has not yet been awarded, we have also been clear that from 2015 the Clyde will be the UK’s only shipyard that builds complex warships.”

Asked if Fallon was slapping Zambellas down, she added: “The defence secretary has reiterated the established government position on that one. You can draw your own conclusions on what that means but this is our position as a government department.”

Zambellas’s disclosure comes after Labour-controlled Glasgow voted by 53.5% to 46.5% in favour of independence on 18 September. Many senior SNP figures and activists are considering a renewed independence campaign, and are planning to target key Labour seats in the Glasgow area at the 2015 general election.

“This puts the lie to yet another ‘project fear’ scare story rolled out during the referendum,” Robertson said. “Time after time we were told by the no campaign that warships could only be built in the UK. The best place to build these frigates is on the Clyde and everybody knows that.

“It would be a serious breach of trust if this is now being reconsidered – Scotland needs and deserves this work.”

Hammond told Scottish voters during the referendum campaign that backing independence would mean the MoD could never build them at BAe Systems’ yard on the Clyde, threatening thousands of jobs, because Scotland would be seen as a foreign country.

“Successive UK governments have deliberately chosen to sustain our sovereign capability – albeit at a financial premium. As a result no complex warships for the Royal Navy have been procured from outside the UK since the start of the 20th Century – except during the two world wars,” Hammond said in April. In August, Fallon said: “UK warships are only built in UK shipyards.”

But amid reports of contract disputes between the MoD and BAe over the cost of the Type 26 contract, Admiral Zambellas has told the US journal Defense News there is no guarantee British shipbuilders would get the work.

He said: “The acquisition process looks for a solution with the proper support to be able to give us what we need. The affordability question that comes from that depends on the best that industry can deliver.

“You’ll notice I haven’t necessarily said that that’s the British industry, because the decision has not been made as to exactly what that solution to the requirement will be, and we wait to see what comes of it.

Asked about going into partnership with the French and Italians, Zambellas said: “Again, that’s an acquisition question. If I set the requirements set by any marketplace solution, I must be interested.

“My line has always been, I don’t choose the solution. I choose the requirement based on our professional judgment. So I wait to see what the solution is offered to me, but it’s got to be credible.”