UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has accused the SNP of pursuing a "white flag" policy on defence, questioning how an independent Scotland could join NATO while maintaining its opposition to nuclear weapons.
Speaking during a visit to the BAE shipyard at Scotstoun, Streeting promoted a rule change requiring foreign defence companies awarded contracts by the MOD to invest back into the UK through new jobs, apprenticeships and factory openings.
In the shadow of the newly built HMS Glasgow, the Defence Secretary said more than 12,000 jobs in Scotland were already directly supported by defence spending.
Response to First Minister's Claims
The comments follow First Minister John Swinney's speech at the SNP conference in Aberdeen earlier this month, in which he claimed Westminster is "failing to keep Scotland secure".
The Nationalists have a long-standing opposition to nuclear weapons and have repeatedly claimed they would demand their removal from the Faslane naval base on the Clyde if Scotland were ever to break from the UK.
Asked about Swinney's claim that Scotland's coast was "dangerously exposed", Streeting said: "We've got HMS Prince of Wales out on a major exercise now, so I think it's very visible proof that what the First Minister said is both irresponsible and unfounded."
NATO Membership Question
Streeting insisted such a policy would not work within NATO, the international military alliance which the SNP has insisted Scotland could join on its own.
He said: "I don't think the SNP should be playing party politics with national defence and security. We'd much rather work with them."
"In terms of risk of leaving the UK with insufficient defence, one of the biggest risks facing that is the SNP's position on unilateral nuclear disarmament. It is, by far and away, the most important deterrent we have - and it's not just the UK's deterrent, it's NATO's deterrent."
"So anytime the SNP says that a separate Scotland could be a NATO member, they have to first explain how their white flag policy on unilateral nuclear disarmament would work under a nuclear alliance."
Swinney's Stance on Nuclear Weapons
Speaking at the SNP conference in Aberdeen earlier this month, Swinney said: "In this uncertain world, what is certain is that the UK is failing to keep Scotland secure. Nuclear weapons have always been an obscenity. But in the world of today - a world of hybrid warfare, of drones, of sabotage, of cyber attacks – Nuclear weapons have never been so obsolete."
"The UK has the means to kill millions of people in minutes. Yet Scotland's vast coastline is left dangerously exposed."
