THE UK Government's new £1.1 billion investment in nuclear-powered submarines was condemned outright by the SNP yesterday as an affront to democracy in Scotland and an "obscene waste of money".
Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, hit back, suggesting that the Nationalists, opposed to nuclear weapons on Scottish soil, were now considering a hypocritical U-turn on their opposition to an independent Scotland becoming a member of Nato so as to enable it to shelter under its nuclear umbrella.
The Secretary of State had intended to make just a written statement to MPs, updating them on the contract for an 11-year programme for the production of reactors for the Clyde-based submarines.
However, he was summoned to the despatch box after a request by the Nationalists was accepted by the Commons Speaker John Bercow.
The Secretary of State explained the contract with Rolls-Royce was split into two parts; one was for a £500 million regeneration of the engineering firm's Derbyshire site, while the other £600m would sustain reactor production at the facility until March 2023.
He told MPs the reactors would power the Astute class attack submarines as well as the replacement for the Vanguard class with its Trident nuclear missiles, subject to final approval in 2016.
He said: "This investment will secure the jobs of 300 highly-skilled workers and will ensure that we retain the capability to build submarine nuclear power plants in the UK."
However, Angus Robertson, the SNP's defence spokesman at Westminster, hit out, insisting the decision to sustain the Trident programme went against the wishes of most people in Scotland.
He said: "The majority of MPs from Scotland, the majority of MSPs, have voted against Trident renewal.
"The Scottish Government is opposed to Trident, the Scottish Trades Union Congress is opposed to Trident, the Church of Scotland is opposed, the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is opposed, the Episcopal Church in Scotland is opposed, the Muslim Association of Scotland is opposed and the public of Scotland, most importantly, is also overwhelmingly opposed to the renewal of Trident.
"The Westminster Government is aware of these objections but it is ploughing on regardless.
"And then, at the end, it plans to dump this next generation of weapons of mass destruction on the Clyde.
"This is a democratic affront and it is an obscene waste of money."
Mr Robertson said spending the money on infrastructure projects would support 10,000 jobs directly and a further 4900 through indirect purchases.
In response, Mr Hammond accused the Nationalist spokesman of "hyperbole" and insisted 6000 jobs depended on the Scottish naval bases. He said the only threat to them was now coming from the SNP.
To Tory "hear hears", the Secretary of State said: "We understand from speculation in the media that the SNP is about to reverse its policy on membership of Nato, a nuclear alliance.
"Perhaps he could enlighten us to whether his party will endorse the Nato nuclear alliance?"
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