AN independent Scotland would struggle to remove Trident nuclear weapons from the Clyde, according to a former chairman of Scottish CND.
Alan Mackinnon argues an independent Scotland would face huge pressure from the UK, EU, Nato and defence firms to keep bases at Faslane and Coulport.
The pressure, he says, would come if Scotland were trying to negotiate membership of the EU and Nato and would be backed by tempting cash incentives.
In the Red Paper on Scotland 2014, he writes: "The biggest contradiction of SNP defence policy is the desire to get rid of Britain's Trident fleet and at the same time join an alliance which has nuclear weapons at its core."
He says: "This is not intended to belittle the SNP defence policy.
"On paper it is a great deal more progressive than that of any of the main Westminster parties and a vote for independence would, at least in theory, provide new opportunities to get rid of Trident, which would require a vigorous response from the peace movement.
"But if you thought that it would result in a Scotland with a nuclear-free, independent foreign policy which would no longer be drawn into military adventures overseas, then think again."
Dr Mackinnon, a leading voice in the peace movement, argues that "independence is not the last or only hope of ridding ourselves of these weapons".
He urges campaigners to maintain pressure on Westminster as doubts over Britain's nuclear deterrent continue to grow among politicians and defence experts.
He adds: "There are signs that Labour's leaders may be beginning to lose their 30-year-old fear of being seen as soft on defence. A Labour campaign which proposed scrapping Trident and spending the money on jobs, services and renewable energy could be a big vote winner."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article