THE Ministry of Defence was yesterday accused of dragging its heels over safety improvements to the ageing fleet of Nimrod spy-planes.
Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Minister, admitted that a series of recommendations – made after a 37-year-old plane exploded over Afghanistan in 2006, killing 14 servicemen – would not be fully implemented until June 2009.
Mr Ainsworth had been spea
king during a parliamentary debate called by Angus Robertson, the SNP's defence spokesman. His Moray constituency includes RAF Kinloss, where the planes are based.
In May, coroner Andrew Walker said the 15-strong fleet of Nimrods should be grounded and accused the MoD of adopting a "cavalier approach to safety".
An independent report made 30 recommendations including a halt to air-to-air refuelling. Of these, 21 have been accepted by the MoD and were expected to be in place by the end of this year.
Mr Ainsworth said the recommendations were being implemented "as soon as reasonably practical", and would "all be implemented by June of next year".
But Mr Robertson said: "The minister gave no explanation for the slipping of the recommendations at a time when the families and all the people involved need reassurances over the safety of the fleet.
"The families and those in the service community deserve better than this mismanagement by the MoD."
The full article contains 227 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
