THE SNP leadership last night paved the way for a major showdown with many rank and file members by proposing an end to the party's long-standing hostility to an independent Scotland becoming a member of the Nato nuclear alliance.
The proposed change, to be decided on at the annual conference in Perth, would be "subject to agreement on withdrawal of Trident from Scotland".
SNP critics seized on the potential U-turn, saying it was evidence that defence thinking within the pro-independence campaign led by leader Alex Salmond was "confused at best and negligent at worst".
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