Letter: Poor defence

Published on 15/02/2012 00:00

AS the Scottish Secretary Michael Moore admitted late last year “that there would not be anything as big as the two aircraft carriers again in our lifetime”, will Jim Murphy (your report, 13 February) use his crystal ball to detail, and at what cost, the Labour Party’s commitment to any future major UK defence contracts if it ever gets back in power at Westminster?

Government figures show Scotland’s contribution to the UK defence budget to be £3.1 billion. If an independent Scotland devotes the same proportion of its GDP to defence as Norway, it would have a defence budget of around £2bn, which would leave£1bn a year to spend on stimulating new jobs in alternative industries.

Calum Stewart

Montague Street

Edinburgh

The Scotsman

Opinion

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Letter: Poor defence

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