SNP outlines its defence policy

Friday, September 26, 2008

Not only would an independent Scotland have a strong and prevalent defence policy but the Scottish economy would benefit as well, Angus Robertson the SNP defence spokesperson said in a panel discussion.

Speaking with the Scotsman newspaper in a panel discussion with several other defence experts, Robertson called for Scotland to have control over its defence policy instead of "subcontracting" it to Westminster. On a number of issues he predicted that an independent Scotland would differ from the current UK defence policy which would in the long run benefit Scotland.

"I don't see if Scotland had powers over defence there would be impediments to making decisions on two key areas: deciding whether to send our young men to war and whether you want weapons of mass destruction. Those are the reasons I want Scotland to be able to exercise the normal powers over defence," Roberston said.

Due to the widespread resistance by both the SNP and allegedly the majority of people in Scotland, Roberston said that the country would not have agreed to send troops to Iraq and would have more "ethical" defence policies and serve as " a force for good."

It was evident from his comments that the SNP models a Scottish defence force off of Norway’s. The country would take part in peace keeping missions but little else.

Trident has long been a polarising issue for the SNP. The party wants to see it removed from Scotland and has threatened to implement fines and court cases for the presence of the warheads near Falsane. The billions of pounds spent on the programme would be reinvested in schools and other social policies according to Robertson.

The financial benefits of Trident are not good enough to retain it in Scotland he said, and the first thing an independent SNP led Scotland would do is remove the systems from Scottish soil.

However he seemed unconcerned about the number of job losses should the Royal Navy be forced to sail south. A major argument of unionist Scots is that the number of jobs and the billions of pounds that the economy relies on from the presence of the Royal Navy and its shipbuilding projects would all disappear if Scotland became independent.

Robertson did not agree: "The capability of the British Royal Navy at Faslane is smaller than that of the Norwegian, Danish and Swedish navies. There is virtually no conventional navy based in Scotland."