Inchgreen campaigners criticise SNP manifesto snub

Scottish National Party (SNP) candidates have been accused of failing to back up apparent unanimous support for Inchgreen Dry Dock with an actual election commitment.

Candidates told campaigners they wanted the mothballed dock transformed into a ‘marine engineering and shipbuilding hub’ — but didn’t mention Inchgreen at all in their manifesto.

In a joint statement, issued to the Campaign to Save Inchgreen Dry Dock, the SNP hopefuls echoed a desire by the pressure group to see the UK’s largest mainland dry dock returned to public ownership.

But with no mention of the issue in a glossy 15-page manifesto, the candidates have now had their integrity called into question.

Peel Ports Group last November controversially leased the dry dock to fledgling ship scrappage outfit Atlas Decommissioning, a company which has failed to win a single order in nearly six months.

After boasting of creating a ‘centre of excellence’ which would create 100 skilled jobs, Atlas has been forced to lay off its start-up workforce of 18 with no sign of any work coming to the dock.

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