HOLYROOD will hear a cross-party appeal to scrap Trident, ahead of a parliamentary debate on the issue this week.

Twenty-nine MSPs have signed a parliamentary motion highlighting a study by the think-tank the Jimmy Reid Foundation arguing that Trident missile submarines at Faslane will not create any new jobs, but will only sustain the current workforce, at a cost of nearly £18 million per employee.

It estimates the cost of renewing Trident to be £205 billion and says that a replacement programme would not lead to any jobs boost in Scotland.

MSPs backing the call to scrap Trident include the SNP's Mairi Evans and Christina McKelvie, Labour's Neil Findlay and Elaine Smith, as well as Greens Patrick Harvie and Alison Johnstone.

The motion, that Trident's continued presence would be a threat to Glasgow and the majority of Scotland’s population, will be ahead of a Holyrood debate on the issue on Wednesday.

Bob Thomson, convener of the Jimmy Reid Foundation, said: "Scottish public opinion has constantly been against nuclear weapons and we very much welcome the cross-party support of 29 MSPs and look forward to the debate on the issue this week."