UK's Nimrod fleet 'safe to fly'
The Ministry of Defence has repeated assurances that the UK's Nimrod fleet was safe to fly, after further fears were voiced over its safety.
SNP defence spokesman Angus Robertson MP said a letter he received from Defence Secretary Des Browne had revealed a number of safety recommendations related to the aircraft's fuel system had yet to be implemented.
The details come in the wake of a coroner's ruling that the entire RAF fleet of Nimrod aircraft has never been airworthy and should be grounded.
Andrew Walker's verdict last week followed an inquest into the deaths of 14 servicemen based at RAF Kinloss who lost their lives when their plane exploded in mid-air just minutes after undergoing air-to-air refuelling in Afghanistan in September 2006.
The MoD has said new air-to-air refuelling procedures meant the aircraft was now "safe to fly".
Mr Robertson asked Mr Browne how many of 30 recommendations made in a Nimrod Fuel System Safety Review of October 2007 had been complied with.
In a letter to the SNP politician, Mr Browne replied: "Twenty one have been accepted and are being implemented; three are being considered for implementation and a further six are on hold as they relate to air to air refuelling."
Mr Robertson said: "The safety and security of our service personnel must the priority for the Defence Secretary and yet we have heard nothing from Des Browne since the coroner's verdict.
"Who are we to believe when the coroner says Nimrod are not airworthy and the Defence Secretary says they are, but admits that vital safety changes, recommended by his own safety review, have not been made."
He added: "Des Browne needs to give a very good reason to why the Nimrod fleet should not be grounded until all of these requirements have been fulfilled. If he cannot satisfy me that the safety recommendations have been fulfilled, I do not see how the Nimrod fleet can continue to operate."
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