Burning Issue: Is it time for nuclear weapons to be removed forever from the Clyde?

Published on Tuesday 3 February 2009 21:43

Yes ANGUS ROBERTSON, SNP MP for Moray and SNP parliamentary leader at Westminster

THE conference on Trident in Edinburgh yesterday underlined our commitment to make the world a safer place by ridding ourselves of weapons of mass destruction. Majority opinion in Scotland is opposed to the Trident weapons system that is based on the Clyde.

The efforts of the Scottish Government to support a genuinely ethical foreign policy are to be welcomed. They have been boosted in recent weeks by senior British military figures who have questioned the case for the Trident system.

In a letter to the Times on 15 January, 2008, the former head of the UK's armed forces, Field Marshal Lord Bramall, and generals Lord Ramsbotham and Sir Hugh Beach, denounced Trident and described it as "irrelevant" and "completely useless". They referred to its influence and effectiveness as a deterrent as, "a fallacy".

Meanwhile, other countries, including the United States and Russia, have made significant signals that will help reduce nuclear tensions. Moscow has halted the stationing of missiles around Kaliningrad and President Barack Obama has launched a review of the Pentagon's controversial missile defence shield in central Europe.

The UK government is launching a discussion paper and

Scotland can help lift the nuclear shadow, too, by deciding to end the presence of Trident weapons.

Not only do a majority of Scots oppose Trident, but MSPs and MPs have also voted against the renewal of the nuclear weapons system.

No

ERIC JOYCE, Labour MP for Falkirk

LABOUR has a proud record on disarmament – but the key is to get agreements on all sides that create a nuclear-free world, not to give them up unilaterally. The SNP obsession with putting dogma above jobs and our strategic interest is wrong.

Polls show that the majority of Scots believe Scotland should not give up nuclear weapons while others still have them. And other countries hostile to Scotland have them or want them, particularly North Korea and, potentially, Iran.

Most Scots do not want their country left defenceless in the face of others who have or who seek the bomb.

Of course, nobody wants to use nuclear bombs. They are terrible. But if you are serious about getting rid of nuclear weapons, you need a plan to get rid of all of them, not just the ones on the Clyde.

The SNP's ridiculously parochial world view is exposed by the chilling, yet simple, fact that even if Scotland did divest itself of nuclear weapons, it would not escape the fallout of a nuclear attack south of the Border.

That is why very few people believe in unilateral nuclear disarmament. The power of persuasion alone is a weak bargaining chip when entering negotiations with the likes of North Korea and Iran.

Only by agreeing to work multilaterally can we rid our world of nuclear weapons. Any other approach is naive.

And in these difficult economic times, the SNP's proposal to lose 11,000 jobs that depend on the Clyde bases is economic madness.