Scottish independence: Former Nato head George Robertson attacks SNP defence plan as ‘incoherent’

Lord George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who was Nato secretary general between 1999 and 2004, has become the latest senior figure to raise serious questions about the details of the SNP’s plans for an independent Scotland.

He was attacked by the Nationalists for being “out of touch” but made his criticisms public after Mr Salmond unveiled details of a Scottish defence force, which appeared to accept cuts imposed by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition at Westminster.

Lord Robertson’s intervention comes after another former Labour cabinet minister, Alistair Darling, attacked SNP plans for a future currency, which could leave an independent Scotland without any fiscal control.

It appears to be part of a long-term strategy by pro-UK parties, taking a “collegiate” approach by using senior politicians to throw a spotlight on various aspects of the case for independence.

Lord Robertson was scathing in his assessment of the SNP’s plans, which he described as being perilous for Scotland.

Earlier this week, Mr Salmond attempted to see off criticism by saying Scotland would have a single RAF base, a single navy base, no nuclear weapons based on its soil and an army brigade of about 6,000 soldiers.

Commenting on those claims, Lord Robertson said: “This is not a serious plan for the defence of a separate Scottish state. It has no coherence and no relevance to what a modern Scotland would need and require.”

He went on to claim that the SNP’s desire to quit Nato would leave “a gigantic hole in the plan” which he said was “irresponsible”.

He said: “Outside of Nato, the world’s most successful defence alliance, it is difficult to see what the proposed force structure would be about. The SNP is the only mainstream political party in all of the 27 Nato nations which suggests withdrawal from Nato.

“The SNP’s only compatriots are the extremist and fringe parties in Europe – and not even all of them. It is high time that the SNP leadership rethought this outdated and oddball policy.”

Lord Robertson was also dismissive of the idea that Scottish units could simply be removed from the British Army.

“It is simply not serious for the SNP to propose surgically amputating ‘Scottish’ regiments from the British Army without any consideration to what members of these regiments think of it or what it would mean to already formed units. For example, the Scots Guards are a key part of the UK Brigade of Guards and cannot simply be cut out of the brigade on the basis of a political whim,” he said.

He also questioned whether there had been any thought given to other parts of the armed forces that were absolutely essential to functioning troops. “What about logistic troops, or combat support and combat service support? Engineers, medics, communicators, reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence forces – all of these are essential to all armed forces and there is nothing said about how this gap is to be filled or afforded,” Lord Robertson said.

“The other missing link in these half-baked proposals is the cost and huge job losses to a separate Scotland of relocating the Faslane submarine base.”

He added: “The SNP is stretching the tolerance of the Scottish people to the limit by failing to answer serious and important questions about national defence and simply cat-calling opponents about talking Scotland down. Playing politics with defence is reckless and these plans are not a grown-up way of dealing with a gravely serious issue.”

But the SNP dismissed Lord Robertson’s claims and accused him of being out of touch.

The Nationalists’ Westminster leader and defence spokesperson Angus Robertson said: “George Robertson is out of touch on defence and on Scotland – he is, after all, the man who predicted that the Scottish Parliament would kill the SNP stone dead.

“He is wrong, and his comments do not reflect the reality of defence and procurement collaboration across Europe.”

But Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson joined the attack on the SNP last night, accusing Mr Salmond of “making up defence policy on the back of an envelope”.

Ms Davidson, a former Territorial Army volunteer, said: “I have seen, first-hand, the professionalism of our armed forces and know that they are a force for good in our world. That professionalism is achieved through rigorous training and close working between front-line personnel and supporting arms and services.

“The SNP seems to have given no thought as to how a Scottish force would operate in practice; that supporting arms such as the Royal Engineers, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery, Royal Signals and Royal Logistics Corps are needed by a modern infantry in order to deploy effectively.”