The farce that is SNP defence policy

Points of Order
12.31 pm 1st july 2009
Angus Robertson (Moray) (SNP): On a point of order,
Mr. Speaker.We have learned overnight that two of the
UK’s three shipyards may close in the years ahead.
Given that that would cause thousands of job losses on
the Clyde or at Portsmouth, have you heard from the
Ministry of Defence whether it is going to make a
statement to this House or leave the Chamber without
telling Members of Parliament what the future holds for shipyard workers in this country?"

Admirable concern on show above from the SNP's Westminster leader last Wednesday about defence jobs, not just in Scotland but in other parts of the UK - but it does beg the question, what is the SNP's defence policy?

We know that should the nationalists get their way and Scotland becomes an independent nation - they will leave Nato - the first ever country to do so in sixty plus years.

We also know that given their anti-nuclear stance - all nuclear weapons systems including Trident would be removed from Scotland.

Ok so far so certain.....

In their 2005 manifesto the SNP declared:

"The SNP wants Scotland to be a normal country
making its own decisions about defence and
peacekeeping. Only when priorities are set in
Scotland can we prevent our brave servicemen
and women being ordered into illegal conflicts. The
historic regiments of Scotland are being destroyed
through amalgamation and downsizing; an
independent Scotland will redress this.
The priority of the Scottish Defence Services
(SDS), in partnership with Scotland’s neighbours
and allies, will be to safeguard our land, sea and air
space. The SDS will initially be equipped with
Scotland’s negotiated share of UK defence
resources. Service and pension conditions will be
at least equal to those of the UK forces. The SDS
will be a professional force supported by reserve
forces with employment opportunities open to
everyone meeting the appropriate standard. MoD
civilian support personnel employed in Scotland at
Independence will have the opportunity to remain
in the Scottish MoD or Scottish civil service.
Scotland will maintain active defence
commitments with its friends and allies through
the United Nations, European Union and
Partnership for Peace.
The SNP reaffirms that no nuclear weapons will be
based on independent Scottish soil. An SNP
government will not be part of a nuclear-based
commitment such as NATO.
SNP priorities in defence are that:
• Defence policy should be made in Scotland’s
national Parliament.
• Scotland’s armed services should be well remunerated,
equipped and trained.
• Historic regiments will be protected and, if
abolished, re-established as part of the SDS.
• Military facilities, including strategic airforce
stations, should not be downsized at the
present time.
• Nuclear weapons will be banished from
Scotland forever.
• Counter terrorism provision will be enhanced,
and plans will include elements of the regular
and reserve SDS as part of a co-ordinated
strategy.
Military practice will be reviewed to balance the
necessity of training against the disturbance to
communities.

As the Telegraph's Alan Cochrane has previously blogged:

"If an independent Scotland were not to be a member of Nato, why would it need the current Scottish contributions to the UK's defence forces? Why would it need the personnel that service the Trident submarines, currently based at Faslane? Why would it need the Eurofighter squadrons soon to be based at Leuchars? Why would it need the nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines, also based at Faslane? Why would it need the Army units, currently based in Scotland and some - like the Army's Second Division, which has its headquarters at Gogarburn, near Edinburgh - completely interlinked with units from other parts of the UK?"

And as Labour's Ian Davidson has pointed out in the Scottish Affairs Select Commitee:

"No UK. No Clyde shipyards. No Union. No yards."

So four years after the SNP's last manifesto - and no doubt with the SNP's general election manifesto for the next election already drafted - it is fair to ask - exactly how would a future independent SNP government guarantee the employment of all Scotland's existing defence related workforce?

The SNP's Angus MacNeil is on record as stating that an SNP government would not close a single naval, air or military base; would not merge or amalgamate a single Scottish regiment, nor sack any defence-associated civil servant.

So Scotland would get rid of Trident but keep Faslane up and running.
As Alan Cochrane again, pertinitely points out, "but to do what, precisely, they've never said."

Mr MacNeil again, is on record as insisting that an independent Scotland would spend more, not less, on defence, citing Norway and Denmark as being models for what the future held.

Norway of course is a Nato member(and clearly has no issue with being a member of nuclear based alliance)- as a result its troops are serving in Afghanistan as I write.

If the SNP are genuinely serious about creating an independent Scotland it is about time they give the people of Scotland the fine details of what Scotland's defences would look like after independence - instead of the vaguest of pledges that much would stay the same.

That the SNP have been reluctant to do so to date, speaks volumes, and tells its own tale about the reality of a post independence Scotland.

The parties of the Union however shouldn't let the SNP in the lead-up to a Westminster election, off the hook - particularly as Mr Robertson's point of order shows, they (the SNP) are keen to be seen to be standing up for Scottish defence related jobs.

Scottish defence related employment is considerable. It is inevitable that if Scotland became an independent state, that the current level of Scots jobs related to defence would fall - because of the loss of UK defence work and employment.

The SNP are reluctant to face up to to this reality. It's time that the parties who believe in the Union press the SNP on the fine points of a defence policy - which with its current opposition to Nato membership and its anti-nuclear stance but with no associated defence job losses post separation - is bordering on the farcical.