SNP Ministers have assigned seven civil servants to a body drawing up defence policy for an independent Scotland.
Details of the Government's Defence Policy Unit emerged after The Herald revealed officials are working on 16 projects to create a blueprint for independence next year. In a parliamentary answer, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the unit was "supporting Scottish Ministers in developing defence policies for the constitutional options open to the people of Scotland" in the run-up to the 2014 referendum.
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