Trident job loss figure in report under fire from opposition

Published on Wednesday 18 November 2009 21:30

A REPORT from a group commissioned by the Scottish Government on removing nuclear weapons from Scotland has been dismissed as supporting a "half-baked policy".

The paper was produced by 12 experts chaired by parliamentary business minister Bruce Crawford, and aimed in part to address how jobs would be affected by any future removal of Trident from Scotland.

The working party said 1,600 civilian jobs would be directly affected by the removal of Trident and that 3,000 jobs would be lost through renewing it. It suggested that a "disarmament dividend" from money saved by scrapping Britain's nuclear capability could be used to create new jobs.

Opposition parties have attacked the document for its lack of detail and evidence.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Murdo Fraser MSP said: "It is all very well forming a half-baked policy to appease the lunatic element of the party when in opposition, but now the SNP is in government and has to grow up. "

Labour pointed out that the report comes just a day after former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars produced a paper claiming that an independent Scotland should continue to house nuclear weapons.

Jackie Baillie, Labour MSP for Dumbarton, where Trident is based, warned of far greater job losses than the report expected: "Yet again the SNP have failed to consider the consequences of their simplistic plans. They would put 11,000 families in Scotland out of work."

Green MSP Patrick Harvie said: "The case for scrapping Britain's nuclear deterrent is rock-solid, but you wouldn't know it from this report."

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon praised the document and said she would consider the recommendation.