In the Herald today, the above and:

Scotland’s defence industry and military infrastructure are being highlighted at a major UK-Norway security summit in Oslo this week. Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander is attending the Atlantic Future Forum, held aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, which was built at Rosyth.

Does this suggest that within NATO an independent Scotland would be able to build warships for the Royal Navy?

No, it seems:

From the UK Defence Journal in March 2024:

The UK Government has refuted claims that an independent Scotland would continue to build ships for the Royal Navy. In the recently released ‘Building a New Scotland: an independent Scotland’s Place in the World’, the Scottish Government set out proposals for an independent Scotland’s place in the world:

This Scottish Government firmly believes that the world-leading capability of Scottish yards would continue to be attractive to the UK Government in the period beyond independence and we do not believe the expertise that exists there would be easy to replicate elsewhere in the UK.” https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/uk-sinks-scot-gov-post-independence-naval-shipbuilding-claims/

The article then sources three quotes from MoD and Westmnister sources all saying NO, ‘driven by national security and safeguarding of sensitive technology’, but Type 26 frigates, the latest and most advanced, are been built in Canada and Australia. If the MoD worries about national security and safeguarding of sensitive technology, it’d bee far easier to do in the BAe site on the Clyde than thousands of miles away, across the globe.

Is there a yard in England that could replace the BAe shipyard in Glasgow and cope with the current surge in demand for in particular Type 26 Frigates?

No. There is no shipyard in England that could readily replace BAE Systems’ Clyde yards (Govan and Scotstoun) and absorb the current Type 26 workload (eight for the Royal Navy plus at least five for Norway).

The Type 26 industrial base is deliberately concentrated on the Clyde, with English yards contributing modules. There is no spare English yard with the facilities, skills and capacity to take over full Type 26 production and cope with the combined Royal Navy plus Norwegian demand in the near-to-medium term. Any shift would be a multi-year, high-cost undertaking rather than a ready alternative.

Sources for above claim:

• European Security & Defence status report on the British naval construction sector identifies BAE’s Clyde yards as “the UK’s largest builder of major surface vessels,” with Barrow reserved exclusively for submarines.https://euro-sd.com/2025/09/articles/exclusive/46331/the-british-naval-construction-sector-status-report/
• BAE Barrow is fully committed to nuclear submarines (Astute, Dreadnought, and planned expansion for SSN-AUKUS). Multiple sources (Submarine Delivery Agency reports and defence industry coverage) confirm it is expanding for higher submarine output, not surface ships.⁠https://defence-industry.eu/britains-submarine-delivery-agency-says-uk-aims-to-double-production-for-up-to-12-ssn-aukus-submarines/
• Official MoD and Scottish Office statements (Ian Murray, Maria Eagle) repeatedly describe the Type 26 as a Clyde programme and the Type 31 as a Rosyth programme, with no suggestion of relocating full Type 26 construction to England.⁠https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/scottish-yards-key-to-future-navy-contracts-says-minister/