UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to call for navy shipbuilding contracts to stay in the UK in a speech in Glasgow later on Friday.

There has been speculation that a £1bn contract for three new Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships could go to a foreign shipyard.

The vessels will provide ammunition, equipment and food to Royal Navy warships.

Corbyn will claim that building them abroad would "trash" the country's shipbuilding tradition.

The UK government currently ensure British yards construct complex warships such as the eight Type 26 frigates which are to be built at BAE Systems' Govan and Scotstoun shipyards on the Clyde over the next 20 years.

But non-combat vessels can be built overseas with a £450m deal to build four tankers to fuel navy ships at sea being awarded to Daewoo, a South Korean firm, in 2012.

He is expected to say: "Workers in British shipyards, from Plymouth to Rosyth, share a proud tradition - building the best ships in the world.

"But the Conservative government is trashing that tradition by offering up the Ministry of Defence's most recent contract for three new Fleet Solid Support Ships to overseas companies to build abroad.

"This decision is wrong. Today we are calling on the Government to guarantee that these three new ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary will be built in domestic shipyards.

"Building these ships in Britain would benefit those working in and supporting our world-class shipbuilding industry."