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2 April 2013

Trident

The debate over how Scotland defends itself now and in the future has engaged many people and organisations across Scotland. Although they express a variety of views, all face the situation of Westminster slashing the footprint of conventional defence forces from Scotland, while continuing to fund the replacement of unwanted, unusable nuclear weapons in our waters.

I have always been sceptical of the UK Government’s claims that Trident is the “ultimate guarantee” of our national security and became a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1960s.

Trident is not a weapon that the UK Government is able to control, as the United States decides when, where, how and whether such weapons can be used. More fundamentally, however, as a defence strategy, Trident fails utterly. The real threats to Scotland—and, for that matter, the UK—are not now from nuclear nations, but come from elsewhere entirely and are the kind of threats that need to be dealt with by soldiers and by boots on the ground.

When we spend money on nuclear weapons, we take money away from those who bravely put their boots on the ground. Trident thus ultimately costs the lives of servicemen and women by diverting funds away from properly equipping and supporting those who keep us safe.

Some instances of our troops lacking kit are well documented. One less publicised example is in Iraq where our forces face the fairly obvious issue of extreme heat. However, the MOD still failed to prepare personnel for the conditions as reports emerged that the rubber in the soles of the soldiers’ boots was melting on the hot ground. Many of the soldiers used the internet to order leather-soled boots so that they could march across the deserts of the Gulf. Ultimately, a choice had been made to spend on Trident and to provide inadequate equipment to our military in theatres of battle.

The price of Trident is, therefore, bodies. When we do not equip our soldiers to undertake that most difficult mission that we ask of them, they are all too often never reunited with their friends and families.

I do not deploy any argument about the conflicts themselves, as I utterly support each of the soldiers, airmen, mechanics, cooks, drivers and medics who put themselves in danger. I do, however, demand that we stop pouring money into that weapon which cannot and will not ever be used, and instead properly equip the men and women of our armed services as they defend our interests.

The story at home is, sadly, similar. The UK Government seems intent on removing as far as possible, existing defence personnel and equipment from Scotland, not only compromising their strategic effectiveness but gutting the communities around the country who depend on nearby military installations.

The reality is that the UK government has been part of a massive defence underspend of over £7 billion pounds in Scotland in the last ten years alone, and has cut the defence footprint in Scotland relentlessly over the years.

Phillip Hammond and his MoD cronies continue to break promises to this day, closing bases at RAF Leuchars and Kinloss, refusing to deploy a joint strike fighter squadron to Lossiemouth and most recently privatising the vital search and rescue service, proudly and ably run by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy for years. All of this, while continuing to insist that Trident nuclear weapons, which are too dangerous to be moved down South, are right at home in our Clyde waters.

Westminster cannot be trusted to make the defence and security decisions for Scotland which is why we need to vote ‘Yes’ in the 2014 independence referendum, so that we can ensure these decisions are made by those with the greatest stake in getting them right – the people of Scotland.

Stewart Stevenson
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