A UNION leader has challenged a Tory MP to visit a North-East shipyard after he claimed workers there lacked the skills to carry out a major Ministry of Defence contract.

MP Peter Viggers sparked fury by suggesting shipyard Swan Hunter was only being considered for work on two giant aircraft carriers because the Government wanted to bring investment to the region.

During a debate in the House of Commons, the Tory drew angry responses from North-East MPs after he said the shipyard had very little to offer.

Now Kevin Curran, general secretary of the GMB union, which represents workers at Swan Hunter, has issued a challenge to the South Coast MP to visit the site himself.

Mr Curran, the former GMB organiser for the region, said: "I defy this Viggers character to come here and tell Swan Hunter workers face to face that they lack skills.

"It is their skill that is regenerating shipbuilding in the North-East. They have sweated, not just for their jobs, but to recover their industry from destruction."

Swan Hunter, which has yards at Teesside and Wallsend, hopes to win up to 30 per cent of the work for the 60,000-tonne carriers - worth up to £500m - building one major section of each carrier.

The contract would double the workforce at its two yards, from 1,500 to 3,000.

Mr Viggers, MP for Gosport, in Portsmouth, where the rival VT yard stands to gain extra work on the carriers if Swan Hunter misses out, said: "There is widespread apprehension in the shipbuilding industry as a whole that Swan Hunter is being included because of jobs and not because of skills."

Dari Taylor, Labour MP for Stockton South, said she was staggered by the comments, which she described as a straightforward insult.

She said: "Swan Hunter has 100 years of experience and a reputation as an excellent builder of naval ships. Let nobody say we won the contract in order to provide jobs."

Nick Brown, Labour MP for Wallsend, also attacked the comments.

Mr Viggers admitted he was in a Boris Johnson position - a reference to the maverick Tory MP, who went to Liverpool to apologise after attacking its people for wallowing in their victim status.

But he said: "I may have to make a journey to the North- East, but I stand by what I said."