JEREMY Corbyn has welcomed Scottish Labour's forthcoming debate on Trident, saying it will help "educate" people about the arguments against renewing Britain's nuclear deterrent.
The Labour leader said the debate, which now seems certain to take place during the Scots party's annual conference next month, would bring members together.
Mr Corbyn is determined to reverse Labour's support for the Clyde-based weapons system.
If he fails, it will throw Labour's defence policy into chaos, as he has already said he would not push the nuclear button under any circumstances if he were Prime Minister, effectively neutering it as a deterrent.
Scottish Labour's deputy leader Alex Rowley told The Herald this week he hoped his party would oppose Trident's renewal when members debate it next month and campaign alongside Mr Corbyn to change UK Labour's policy.
Welcoming a possible ally in Scottish Labour, Mr Corbyn said: "There is a lot of opportunity here both for educating people and bringing them together, there's also a lot of people in the military, often very high ranking officers in all three services, who don't necessarily go along with the idea that Trident replacement is a good idea, they would rather see an emphasis on more conventional weaponry, because the issues and threats and instabilities in the world are not necessarily state wars against each other, they are more often random acts of violence and terrorism and irrational activities by people who are not going to be deterred one way or another by nuclear weapons.
"After all nuclear weapons were not much help to the United States on September 11 2001, which is one of the defining points of the political history of this century so far."
Mr Corbyn was heavily criticised by members of his own shadow cabinet for saying he would never countenance the use of Trident.
Shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle, who supports Trident renewal, said his comments had undermined his promised review of party policy on the issue, which was designed to reach an agreed position.
Mr Corbyn admitted the party's policy may not be agreed by next May's Holyrood election.
The SNP's deputy leader Stewart Hosie said Labour's position was "utterly indefensible".
He added: "Jeremy Corbyn needs to be straight with the people of Scotland.
"Will Labour oppose trident nuclear weapons on our shores, or simply allow the Tories to go ahead with this outdated and unwanted project?
"The longer Labour remain such a deeply divided party, the less chance they have of providing any effective opposition to the Tories."
Mr Corbyn was speaking during his first visit to Scotland since his landslide victory in the Labour leadership contest.
He was greeted at Holyrood by Scots party leader Kezia Dugdale before meeting Labour MSPs at a social enterprise cafe around the corner from the parliament building.
He later travelled to Glasgow to meet trades union representatives.
He said Labour, not the SNP, were the "real" opponents of austerity in Scotland and insisted the party, which trails a long way behind the the Nationalists in the polls, was "doing great" with a large rise in membership north and south of the Border since he became leader.
Mr Corbyn has agreed to discuss Scottish Labour's relationship with the UK party, including the issue of whether MPs should take the whip from London or Edinburgh.
He has said there is "no question" of him treating the Scottish party as a "branch office," the description used by former leader Johann Lamont.
Mr Rowley, Ms Dugdale's deputy, said Scottish Labour should not split from UK Labour become autonomous within a federal structure.
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