Defiant MP insists HMNB Portsmouth staff work on '24‑hour basis' after union claims over HMS Dragon Iran op
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A bold defence minister has insisted that staff at HMNB Portsmouth work around the clock on deployments - after claims that a changed contract caused delays to a recent operation.
Minister for defence readiness and industry, Luke Pollard, said people at the city’s main Royal Navy base are always on hand for essential work. The Prospect Union claimed a renegotiated contract between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Serco Maritime meant that some staff moved to working 9-5 Monday to Friday.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge, Conservative, asked in a parliamentary written question whether around-the-clock staffing is in place at HMNB Portsmouth. Mr Pollard, Labour, insisted this was the case.
He said: “HMNB Portsmouth operates on a continuous 24‑hour basis. Appropriate Duty Staff are in place at all times to maintain the safety, security, and operational availability of the site. He will recall from his time as a Defence Minister that for security reasons, the Ministry of Defence does not comment on specific staffing levels or detailed security arrangements at any defence establishment.”
The organisation added that the contract was based on the “fantasy that conflict only occurs between nine and five”. Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, said: “Our members are stepping up to help, but such a vital service shouldn’t be dependent on good will from staff. Out-of-hours support should be locked into the contract. This contract has failed its first real encounter with a serious crisis, and must be urgently reviewed and rectified.”
Serco denied the allegations and said HMS Dragon’s deployment to Cyprus was aided by the “full support of our dedicated teams in Portsmouth”. The firm added: “Serco has fulfilled every task requested by the Royal Navy on time and to the agreed standard. Any suggestion that the working patterns of Serco employees have impacted HMS Dragon’s ability to sail is completely untrue.”
HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer designed to handle air defence missions, left Gibraltar yesterday (March 17) and is bound for the eastern Mediterranean. This follows a drone strike on the British base RAF Akrotiri, with a Shahed style system hitting one of the hangars. It’s believed it was fired by an pro-Iranian militia group based in western Iraq and Lebanon.
The warship reportedly ran into ”power cuts and propulsion failures” so far on their voyage, but these were deemed to be normal “niggles” given she recently came out of a maintenance period.