Scottish independence ‘would benefit peacekeeping’

A YES vote in next year’s referendum would allow Scotland to use the nation’s defence forces more for humanitarian aid and global peacekeeping, members of the Veterans for Independence group have claimed.

Voting for independence 'could put jobs at risk'. Picture: PA

Supporters of the group said an independent Scottish government would be able to make its own decisions about the role of its armed forces in ways that better match the nation’s views and priorities.

The group, which was formed last autumn, claims to have hundreds of supporters in Scotland.

Campaign spokesman Feargal Dalton, a former Royal Navy lieutenant commander and weapons engineer in the Submarine Service, said growing numbers of veterans were backing independence as a way to rethink the role of our military forces.

He said: ‘While the military tasks of Scotland’s defence forces will be similar to that of the UK and other allies, where Westminster is focussed on power projection, I would hope to see an independent Scotland project humanitarian aid and global peace and justice.”