MoD announces jobs boost for RAF Lossiemouth

The new jobs are linked to the deployment of anti-submarine P-8A Poseidon aircraft at the base.

The Ministry of Defence has announced a jobs boost for the north of Scotland with more than 100 new posts being created at RAF Lossiemouth.

The contract, worth more than £230m, is part of the deployment of Poseidon maritime aircraft at the base in Moray.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he saw it as a benefit of Scotland being part of the UK.

But the Scottish government said the Conservatives had "zero credibility" on defence issues in Scotland.

It said this was because of "deep cuts" the party had imposed on personnel and infrastructure north of the border.

As well as a base for Typhoon fighter jets, RAF Lossiemouth will now be home to a fleet of nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes.

Mr Wallace said the 106 new roles were part of a training and maintenance contract allied to the deployment of the anti-submarine aircraft.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace used the announcement to highlight what he sees as the benefits of Scotland in the Union

He added: "That's another generation of RAF investment into the area."

Mr Wallace also pledged there were more jobs to come as part of a programme that included the opening of the base's new £75m runway last year.

He said: "Defence is not a here today, gone tomorrow. You invest for the long term."

Mr Wallace said the purchase of P-8A aeroplanes and E-7 Wedgetails (surveillance aircraft) brings "20, 30 years of investment".

Typhoons are also based at RAF Lossiemouth

But he also challenged the case for independence.

Mr Wallace said: "Defence of these isles is much better achieved collectively and together, and the strength of the union is demonstrated by the fact we can play to each others' strengths."

The MoD is a major employer and spends more than £2bn a year in Scotland, much of it on shipbuilding.

But Mr Wallace said an independent Scotland could not expect to get military orders from the rest of the UK.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "If you look at their economic figures, their deficit is so large I think it would be very, very difficult for an independent Scotland to maintain any armed forces of any type of armed forces of any credible size or capability."

He also raised the question of what would happen to the Faslane nuclear base and an independent Scotland's place in Nato.

In a statement, a spokesman for Scotland's first minister said: "The Tories have zero credibility when it comes to defence issues in Scotland given the deep cuts they have imposed on personnel and infrastructure north of the border.

"An independent Scotland will be more than capable of maintaining conventional forces, but will not waste billions of pounds on nuclear weapons."