THE UK Labour Party would keep nuclear weapons and support Nato if elected, John Healey, the Shadow Defence Secretary, has said, continuing to put it at odds with the Scottish Labour Party on the issue of Trident renewal.

In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute[RUSI] think-tank, Mr Healey made clear that retention of Britain’s nuclear deterrent was “non-negotiable” and Labour’s support for the Western alliance of Nato was “unshakeable”.

Both have been long-standing Labour policies in successive UK party election manifestos but were sometimes at odds with former leader Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters.

Mr Corbyn, a vice-chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament called for Nato to be disbanded in 2012 and was criticised for a perceived anti-Western and unpatriotic outlook. Richard Leonard, the former Scottish Labour leader and also a member of CND, is also personally opposed to renewing Trident.

In 2015, Scottish Labour backed a conference motion opposing Trident renewal, which is still the party’s official policy north of the border. A Scottish Labour Party spokesman told The Herald: “There is no change in our position.”

As Scottish Labour’s new leader is named on Saturday, it is believed the frontrunner, Anas Sarwar, who personally was in favour of Trident renewal when he challenged Mr Leonard for the leadership in 2017, does not intend to reopen the issue in the run-up to the Holyrood election in May.

In the first major national security policy speech by the UK Labour Party since the last General Election, Mr Healey said the “the hardest doors to knock” at that election were those with Help for Heroes or British Legion stickers in the windows.

He made clear he was setting out UK Labour’s future “core principles” on defence, so that voters, the military and the defence industry “know where we, as Labour’s new leadership, are coming from”.

Speaking to RUSI, he declared: “First, Labour’s commitment to Nato is unshakeable. Second, Labour’s support for the UK’s nuclear deterrent is non-negotiable and we want to see Britain doing more to lead efforts to secure multilateral disarmament.

“Third, Labour’s commitment to international law and the UN, to universal human rights and to the multilateral treaties and organisations that uphold them is unshakeable.

“And fourth, Labour’s determination to see British investment directed first to British industry is fundamental; it’s fundamental not just to our thinking on defence, but on the kind of society we want to build.”

Mr Healey criticised what he claimed was a £17 billion “black hole” in the defence budget as the UK Government carried out an “integrated review” of the military.

He committed his party to building four nuclear submarines at Barrow-in-Furness, adding that spending on defence in the UK was a “force for good”.

“We cannot any longer go fudging and fumbling our way into the future, with major procurement projects at the mercy of the illusion that ‘something will turn up’ to pay for them.

“We are the party of sovereign defence capability; we see the steel industry, the shipyards, and aerospace and materials industries as a national asset. We want to see a clear plan from Government to enhance these capabilities.

“We want to see, for the good of our country, as much as possible of our equipment designed and built here.”

Mr Healey also spoke of the “disgraceful” Novichok attack in Salisbury in March 2018 when Mr Corbyn initially failed to condemn Russia, which was widely seen as a major reason for the party’s disastrous 2019 General Election result.

A leaked “rebranding” report from consultants said Labour should “make use of the flag, veterans and dressing smartly” to win back “red wall” voters who deserted the party in 2019.

Sir Keir Starmer was recently criticised by the left of the party for presenting a party political broadcast alongside the Union flag.

Labour ceased its policy of eliminating the country’s nuclear weapons when it lost the 1987 General Election, though the decision remains unpopular with Labour’s left.

Nato was established in 1949, with Clement Attlee’s post-war Labour administration taking a leading role in its foundation.